What Alberta's tourism momentum could mean for AGRItourism in 2026
December 30, 2025
Written by Kathryn Dragowska, Communications and Stakeholder Engagement, Alberta Farm Fresh Producers Association
Photos by Sam Kreuger and Colin Fagnan, Board Member of AFFPA and Executive Director at the Lamont and Fort Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce
The Alberta Farm Fresh Producers Association doesn’t only do its work in orchards, greenhouses, and fields. A surprising amount of it happens under chandeliers, inside conference centres and hotel ballrooms where people talk about budgets, policies, and the ideas that eventually ripple out onto farms. Recently, AFFPA board member Sam Kreuger and AFFPA’s colleague from the Lamont and Fort Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce, Colin Fagnan, stepped into two of those rooms: the Alberta Economic Budget Forum and the Premier’s Dinner. What they witnessed there says a lot about where Alberta is heading, and why it matters for our members.
A Room That Feels Like an Industry on the Rise
There’s a particular energy you notice when people truly believe their industry is about to grow. That was the atmosphere at the Premier’s Dinner, optimism that wasn’t put on for show, but grounded in real numbers. Alberta’s tourism sector is expanding faster than the rest of the country, in some measures four times faster. When people know the facts are on their side, their conversations shift. They speak more boldly. They assume momentum instead of hoping for it. It didn’t feel like a gala. It felt like a moment.
Government Language That Signals Priorities
One of the clearest indicators of government direction is what leaders choose to talk about when they don’t have to. The Premier didn’t treat tourism as an abstract portfolio. She talked about it like someone who had once lived inside that world. Her message was simple: tourism isn’t just a bonus of a strong economy, it’s one of the engines driving it. Investments in international flights, new routes, and better access all point to the same logic: trade brings visitors, visitors bring trade, and connectivity supports both. That theme echoed at the Budget Forum as well. Economists and commentators repeatedly returned to tourism not as a “soft” sector but as a contributor that supports nearly one in ten Alberta jobs. Industries at that level stop being seen as hospitality and start being understood as infrastructure.
The Parts of Tourism People See… and the Parts They Don't
Most conversations stayed high-level. “Tourism” was treated as one big category, not the complex ecosystem it actually is. That meant agritourism wasn’t singled out, even though it clearly belongs in the picture. When people imagine Alberta tourism, they tend to picture mountain parks and urban festivals before they picture a family picking berries or a child feeding goats. For AFFPA, that gap is frustrating but also full of possibility. If agritourism isn’t fully on the radar yet, then the story is still being written. The Tourism Industry Association of Alberta is beginning to take notice. The recognition isn’t complete, but the door has opened. These moments usually follow a familiar pattern: first you’re invisible, then you’re interesting, then you’re obvious. Agritourism now sits somewhere between the second and third stage.
A Practical Tool That Cut Through the Noise
One of the most tangible announcements had nothing to do with flights or GDP, it had to do with hiring. Greg Klassen’s keynote on labour challenges in tourism introduced KATE, a full HR program based on Alberta labour laws, offered free to Tourism Industry Association members. Small operators rarely have the time or resources to build strong HR systems from scratch, yet staffing remains one of the biggest constraints on growth. So when a ready-made HR framework was announced, the room reacted. Big visions are inspiring, but tools change daily life. For many tourism and agritourism operators, KATE may end up being the thing they feel most directly.
The Ongoing Question of Youth and Careers
Another thread running through both events was youth employment. Tourism relies heavily on young workers, yet few young people imagine long-term careers in the sector. Both government and opposition voices touched on the same issue from different angles: if tourism is going to keep growing, it needs wages, training pathways, and stability that make the work feel worthwhile. For farms welcoming visitors, this conversation is familiar. Staff shortages don’t care whether the job is in a hotel or a pumpkin patch. If the province starts treating tourism as a legitimate career lane for youth, agritourism can benefit, provided it stays part of the conversation.
How Alberta Looks Through Someone Else's Eyes
Panels on export diversification and economic development revealed something almost poetic: international delegates often arrive in Alberta for business, but leave thinking about coming back for a vacation. They go home talking about the landscapes, the food, the events, the things locals sometimes forget to notice. But a challenge remains. Alberta is good at attracting people for a specific purpose. It’s not yet as good at convincing them to linger. Turning a three-day conference trip into a six-day exploration depends on the “in-between” experiences, local festivals, rural attractions, and yes, farm experiences that let visitors actually meet Alberta rather than just drive through it.
Breaking Out of Two-Season Thinking
Another major theme was seasonality. Alberta’s visitor patterns are still shaped by winter sports and summer crowds. Banff is starting to build summer attractions outside its traditional rhythm, and the argument was that other regions need to do the same. True year-round tourism isn’t about weather. It’s about reasons. Reasons to visit in shoulder seasons. Reasons to return. Reasons to explore beyond the postcard moments. Agritourism already lives in this mindset. Farms don’t disappear between July and December. Neither should the experiences they offer.
A Region Reimagined
For those of us in Alberta’s industrial heartland, there was another layer to these conversations. When people picture a “tourism destination,” they don’t usually imagine smokestacks or refineries. Yet within these landscapes are pockets that surprise visitors: film locations, historic sites, farms, trails, and communities that feel different once someone takes the time to look. Local governments are beginning to see this too. Lamont County’s growing interest in tourism shows how quickly a region can shift once it starts to view itself through the eyes of visitors. Chambers, municipalities, and associations like AFFPA are in a good position to help connect these dots and support the communities trying to grow something new.
Pulling the Threads Together
Across both the Budget Forum and the Premier’s Dinner, the message was consistent: Alberta is planning for growth, aiming to lead, and increasingly sees tourism as part of how it will get there. The mood wasn’t naïve, it was cautiously confident, aware of global uncertainties and political debates at home. But confidence, even cautious confidence, matters. It shifts which problems leaders choose to tackle and which opportunities they believe are worth pursuing. For AFFPA members, that opens a door. When the province talks about labour, flights, year-round destinations, and international visitors looking to stay longer, agritourism fits naturally into that future. Our role is to keep showing up, to keep nudging the conversation toward the fields and farmyards that tell some of Alberta’s truest stories, and to keep building the kinds of experiences that make visitors say what investors are already saying: “I want to come back and next time, I want to stay longer.”