National Tourism Week a good time to look at economic impact

By Alejandra Pulido-Guzman - Lethbridge Herald on April 5, 2025.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDapulido@lethbridgeherald.com

National Tourism Week kicks off Monday and Tourism Lethbridge says it is a great time to “zoom out” and look at the big picture of tourism and what it means to Lethbridge.
Dominika Wojcik, senior director of communications with Tourism Lethbridge says tourism is not just about visitors, but how it supports the community, creates jobs and drives collaboration between multiple sectors.
“Tourism is economic development. It creates not only creates jobs, but every time a visitor eats at a restaurant, stays at a hotel, or goes to one of our attractions, they are putting those dollars back into our local economy,” says Wojcik.
She adds that when those dollars go back into our local economy, that means good things for us as a city.
“That means we can build better infrastructure, we can do a lot more when we have more money coming in, so those visitor dollars are really important to our city,” says Wojcik.
She says many people think of tourism as big events bringing a lot of visitors into the city but is not just about that.
“It’s also about how we tell the story about our city, and how we create those experiences not only for visitors but also for our residents,” says Wojcik.
She explains that by giving residents opportunities to enjoy the city by offering various events, they talk about Lethbridge to others outside of the community, they post about the city on social media, and that in turn creates interest to potential visitors.
When talking about stats, Wojcik says they will be sharing a long list of numbers during their Annual General Meeting, but she shares a sneak peek of how Tourism affected Lethbridge in 2024.
“Hotel occupancy in Lethbridge was at 61.4 per cent in 2024, compared to the Alberta average, which was 59.9 per cent that is really positive for Lethbridge. We are one of the top ones in Alberta in hotel occupancy,” says Wojcik.
She says that compared to “pre-COVID” numbers, they were only at 57.4 per cent occupancy in 2019. Which shows that there has been a healthy recovery.
“Airport traffic is also exciting, we had about 38,000 passengers coming through our YQL Airport, which is amazing, and that regional airport is a very important piece for our tourism as it is a connector,” says Wojcik.
She explains that whenever Tourism Lethbridge is promoting Lethbridge as a destination, the first question they are asked is if we have a regional airport.
“For me, whenever I go out into market to promote sport tourism and business events tourism, those are the first questions I get asked,” says Wojcik.
Another aspect of tourism that is important for the local economy is having enough people to run the various businesses, attractions and events that continue to bring in visitors and Tourism Lethbridge has been tracking down those numbers.
“We have 472 tourism businesses in Lethbridge currently, which is up five per cent from 2023, and we have 14,600 tourism jobs in Lethbridge, which is a 30 per cent increase since 2023,” says Wojcik.
She explains those include not only hotels and attractions, but also restaurants, event support teams, retail shops, and anything that touches tourism.
“A big thing about tourism is, it’s not only about our organization but it is about the community. We wouldn’t have tourism if it wasn’t for the amazing support of our partners like the Agrifood-Hub, Lethbridge Sport Council, Downtown BRZ, all of the partners that make experiences and event happen that create opportunities for people to come see us,” says Wojcik.
She adds that they have four advisory committees, which include sports, attractions, business events and indigenous tourism.
“With Tourism Week, it celebrates all of the people that make tourism happen. Everyone from the front desk staff at a hotel, to chefs, servers, events staff, local business owners, it’s really about saying a big thank you to all of the people that make tourism happen in our city everyday,” says Wojcik.

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