Edmonton Economic Development Corporation

Tourism Industry


  • Edmonton Tourism’s Edmonton Events International (EEI) contributed to the winning bid for the 2012 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships to be co-hosted with Calgary. EEI also contributed to the successful bids for the 2012 World Women's Baseball Championship, Grey Cup in 2010 and the 2010 Canadian Country Music Awards.
  • Edmonton Tourism’s Edmonton Festival City in a Box presented by TransAlta initiative won marketing awards in 2010 from Economic Developers Alberta. see http://www.edmonton.com/eedc-corporate/1872.aspx
  • Edmonton Tourism's FRESH campaign and the Edmonton Festival City in a Box, a TransAlta-funded initiative, won Marketing Canada Awards in 2009 from the Economic Developers Association of Canada.
  • Edmonton Economic Development Corporation received an Honourable Mention for Excellence in Economic Development for its 2009 Summer Campaign in the category of Paid Ad Campaign for communities with populations of greater than 500,000 from the International Economic Development Council. 
  • Edmonton was recognized as number one for online marketing through the Canadian Cities Online Marketing 2010 Index. Measured for how well Canadian cities are marketing their territories, the index evaluated for investment attraction using Web 2.0 tools and current site information.
  • Ken Fiske, Vice-President of Economic & Tourism Development received the 2010 Award of Excellence by the International Association of Business Communicators.
  • Each year 4.16 million visitors spend an estimated $1.11 billion in the Edmonton region.
  • NBC’s Fear Itself, a 13-episode horror drama series, was shot in Edmonton in 2008. The total production spending budget in the region was an estimated $29 million.
  • The award-winning Festival City in the Box program, presented by TransAlta showcased Edmonton to guests at 82 local, national and international events in 2010.
  • Blackstone, a nine-episode exploration of First Nations’ power and politics, was shot in Edmonton in 2010. The total budget for the project was $4.4 million, Blackstone is enhancing the local economy by employing more than 360 Edmontonians.
  • Edmonton hosted 57 travel media tours in 2010 which resulted in favourable world-wide exposure. Travel Alberta reported nearly $58M in earned media value for Edmonton in 2010.
  • The Gateway Park Visitor Information Centre has been named favourite information centre in Alberta by the readers of RV West Magazine from 2007-2011.
  • Canadian Finals Rodeo has been bringing top rodeo competitors together since 1974 from across Canada and the United States, competing for a purse of over $1 million.
  • West Edmonton Mall is North America’s largest entertainment and shopping centre and Alberta’s number-one tourist attraction, featuring over 800 stores and services, over 100 eating establishments, and 10 world-class attractions. On any given day, the mall becomes Alberta’s third-largest “city.”
  • The Edmonton Destination Marketing Hotels’ vision and support have made a significant impact on Edmonton Tourism’s capacity to establish the region as a must-see destination, such as through in-flight marketing campaigns with Air Canada and WestJet.
  • The You’re Welcome Awards recognize employees and volunteers in the service industry who exemplify hospitality to Edmonton’s visitors. The popularity of the program can be seen in the growing number of nominations submitted – from 200 in its first year to 1,020 nominations in 2010.
  • In 2010, EEDC booked 73,238 hotel room nights valued at $21.5 million in economic expenditure. 
    Edmonton has more than 13,000 guest rooms to pick from, with a wide sampling of major hotel brands, suite hotels, trendy boutique properties, motels and a backpackers hostel.
  • Edmonton was voted one of the top 10 Family Vacations in Canada in Trip Advisor's Travelers' choice 2011. In addition, Alberta’s capital city was named as a top 10 destination by Student Youth Travel Association’s Teach & Travel magazine.
  • Edmonton is recognized as an artist-friendly city, attracting individuals from other parts of Canada and recent immigrants, who are interested in Edmonton’s rich culture scene. The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Citadel, Art Gallery of Alberta and Edmonton Opera are nationally recognized institutions that are the flagships of the Edmonton arts scene.
  • Edmonton is easy to get to with the Edmonton International Airport, boasting non-stop connections from 50 national and international destinations. Edmonton International Airport led the country in passenger growth in 2008. As a result, its board approved a S1 billion airport development program, Expansion 2012.
  • Edmonton is ranked as one of  the top five Canadian destinations for domestic and inbound travellers.
  • Edmonton is ranked as one of Canada's top fastest growing city.
  • Edmonton hosted the 2011 AthletesCAN Forum, the largest and most inclusive gathering of Canada’s national team athlete representatives outside of competition. It brings together Canada’s high performance athletes and sport leaders to learn about the sport system, develop leadership skills, share ideas and network through interactive workshops, seminars and presentations.
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River Valley and Parks

"Like many great cities, Edmonton is defined by a river. The historic North Saskatchewan cuts through the heart of downtown and offers tremendous opportunity for scenery and wildlife in river-valley surroundings that feel remote and are remarkably pristine." Alberta, Land of Elk & Money - Peter Brewster, The Toronto Sun 04/06/2006