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.
To learn more about the Tourism Master Plan please click below:
Walking Forward Together
Explore Edmonton, Stormy Lake Consulting, and Moccasin Trails Inc, along with Indigenous partners and communities in the Edmonton region, are excited to launch an Indigenous Tourism Development Strategy. This is an important step in the tourism landscape for Edmonton as Indigenous tourism is an avenue for Indigenous peoples to share their truth and culture in an authentic and meaningful way.
The strategy is based on five interconnected elements, with the goal of building a thriving community of Indigenous tourism operators, entrepreneurs and events:
- Relationships: which includes the creation of a network of Indigenous tourism operators and entrepreneurs.
- Storytelling: which will be centred around building the presence of Indigenous tourism in marketing, as well as building understanding and knowledge by sharing Indigenous stories.
- Empowerment & Learning: create a tourism incubator workshop and Explore Edmonton will commit to building a hub of resources on its website.
- Shared leadership: this strategy should be Indigenous led and the Advisory Circle, which was involved in development of the strategy, must be sustained and supported by all partners.
- Gathering: including bringing Indigenous tourism experiences into Explore Edmonton events and bidding on major Indigenous events.
While Explore Edmonton has collaborated in the development of this strategy, it has been led by the Indigenous community and Indigenous tourism operators to ensure our Indigenous partners define what is authentic and the best cultural representation for their communities.
To learn more about the Indigenous Tourism Development Strategy please click below.
A Flourishing Future
The Regenerative Visitor Economy Strategy was initiated as part of the 2021 Tourism Master Plan. Explore Edmonton, with support from regenerative tourism experts ConnectSeven Group and the GDS-Movement.
They managed a process to engage, listen to, and involve local interested parties from more than 148 organizations (non-profit, public institutions and
government). All collaborated in the development of this new strategy. The engagement process followed the GDS-Movement’s and ConnectSeven Group's collaborative destination development methodology and had three key questions:
1. Where do we want to go?
2. How will we get there?
3. Where are we today?
It represents a crucial step forward from the Tourism Master Plan and for bettering our community. The Regenerative Visitor Economy Strategy will work in tandem with other strategies and the Tourism Master Plan to foster inclusive, equitable, and regenerative tourism growth in Edmonton.
To learn about the Regenerative Tourism Strategy please click below: