Tourism Master Plan

Explore Edmonton’s job is to always be looking at the big picture, leading the way to promote our city as a four-season destination and developing the experiences and partnerships that will position Edmonton as a destination of choice. We are fully aligned to increase the economic impact of the visitor-based economy in our city.

The project

In the Fall of 2020, Explore Edmonton convened a steering committee of key partners across the tourism industry in our city to develop Edmonton’s first integrated Tourism Master Plan. This 10-year framework is aimed at providing a common vision for growth and investment with tourism industry partners.

The now completed strategy will help guide Explore Edmonton’s experience development initiatives and enable the development of compelling tourist experiences that match visitor expectations and position Edmonton as a year-round destination of choice.

Not only does the visitor economy create jobs and generate revenue, it also drives awareness to our amazing city, and in turn, contributes to our city’s local economic vibrancy, future and quality of life.

Objectives

The ultimate objective of the project was to assist in the prioritization of efforts and investments to address the triple bottom line: delivering on the needs of the people (visitors and residents); the planet (developing tourism experiences in a responsible, sustainable and regenerative manner); and profit (economic growth). This was done through the identification and alignment of key stakeholders, current and envisioned projects, and planning efforts for the city.

Deliverables

This project consisted of six phases:

Project initiation & management: Confirm project plan and approach to stakeholder engagement.
Baseline research: Assess the current and future state of Edmonton's visitor economy.
Asset mapping: Identify existing assets and uncover potential gaps and opportunities.
Stakeholder engagement: Proactively engage key stakeholders to collaboratively develop plan.
Synthesis and analysis: Prepare a synthesis and analysis presentation of key findings.
Strategic planning: Develop final Strategy, Implementation Plan and Monitoring & Evaluation Plan.

Community Engagement

Integral to the development of the strategy was an engagement process to help support and align the many diverse stakeholders, industry partners and private businesses who collectively comprise the tourism ecosystem in Edmonton. During the month of November 2020, Explore Edmonton engaged with a wide variety of industry partners and Edmontonians through 1:1 interviews, focus groups and surveys.

What we heard

The Situational Analysis Report was an important milestone in the project that provided a snapshot of "where we are today" with insights collected from stakeholders and residents regarding motivating characteristics and differentiators the city offers that could shape the tourism plan implementation. Specifically, this Situational Analysis Report of Edmonton's tourism landscape includes:

State of the global tourism industry;
Examination of industry trends;
10-year forecast for Edmonton's visitor economy; and
Examination of key challenges and opportunities that should be considered in the development of the Tourism Master Plan.

To learn more about these conversations, read the Situational Analysis Report, the Resident Survey Report and the DestinationNEXT Assessment.