Photo courtesy of Thinkstock

As Canadians continue to struggle with a weakened dollar and lower fuel prices, one bright spot for the nation’s economy in 2015 was a robust tourism industry. Which is good news for Canadians, since one in nine jobs throughout the nation are tourism related.

In Alberta, the tourism industry is obviously a significant contributor to the economy. According to Statistics Canada, the industry supports 127,000 jobs and accounts for $8 billion in revenue, 127,000 jobs and further injects $4 billion in tax revenues back to the local, provincial and federal government.

As the tourism industry celebrates its successful 2015 while also looking forward to continued success in 2016, Travel Alberta is bringing together tourism industry partners at a series of town hall events throughout the province next month. Here, the general public can hear how the tourism industry helps drives the economy while also exploring ways to collaborate.

These town hall events are part of an annual initiative by Travel Alberta and Alberta Culture and Tourism to help sustain the growth of the tourism industry throughout the province. The sessions are designed to bring all interested parties into a conversation about how best to service visitors as a cohesive unit.

"Team Alberta is about partnership. It's about collaboration," says Royce Chwin, Travel Alberta President and CEO. "It's about working together for a common goal to inspire travellers to visit here and visit now."

The presentations will include updates on Travel Alberta's 2016-2018 strategy as well as an overview of Alberta Culture and Tourism upcoming programs.

"Town Halls are an opportunity to participate and collaborate as Team Alberta to create compelling invitations for the world to visit Alberta, and inspire Albertans to keep travelling in Alberta" said Shelley Grollmuss, Vice President, Industry Development at Travel Alberta.

Dates and Locations

May 05 – Jasper
May 06 – Banff
May 09 – Red Deer
May 10 – Rosebud
May 10 – St. Paul
May 11 – Athabasca
May 11 – Medicine Hat
May 12 – Lethbridge
May 12 – Whitecourt
May 13 – Calgary
May 13 – Grande Prairie
May 18 – Edmonton

For more information, visit: http://industry.travelalberta.com/events.

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