New routes to Alberta delight tourism industry

Starting in the spring, the WestJet will offer new routes to Japan and Europe from Calgary airport. It will also increase the frequency of its flights to Europe.

Several airlines announced new routes to Alberta last week. Good news, say professionals in the province's tourism industry.

Starting this spring, WestJet will offer new connections to Japan and Europe from Calgary airport. It also announced, last Wednesday, 20 new routes and 3 new destinations to the United States for its summer schedule. The company will also increase flights within Canada.

Lynx Air has also announced a new service between Calgary and Los Angeles, three times a week.

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For its part, Porter Airlines is now offering flights between Edmonton and Toronto Pearson International Airport. Services between Ontario's capital and Calgary will be offered starting Wednesday.

[These services] are popular and we want to make sure we maintain demand, says Brad Cicero, director of communications for Porter Airlines.

Traci Bednard, CEO of Explore Edmonton, notes that Canadian travelers are the most likely to travel to Alberta. Ontario is currently our largest domestic market […] So having more flights, even between Edmonton and Toronto, is very important for tourism, she points out.

According to Brad Cicero, the tourism industry always benefits from the improvement or increase in air services in particular since increased competition leads to lower prices.< /p>

Since last Tuesday, Canadian North has been offering daily flights between Calgary and Yellowknife. The company will also increase connections with Edmonton.

Canadian North is trying to meet demand, explains its CEO, Michael Rodyniuk. In addition to business travelers and those with medical needs, more and more tourists are coming to the area, he says.

WestJet has made it clear that it will make Calgary an international air hub […] It will therefore welcome a large number of tourists who want to go to the Arctic, to Yellowknife and beyond, indicates he says, pointing out that many tourists come from Asia and Western Europe.

Michael Rodyniuk adds that residents of the Northwest Territories will also use these flights. In the north […] the products are quite expensive, so many people take advantage of the possibility of coming to the south to buy products, says -il.

According to Todd Loewen, the provincial Minister of Forestry, Parks and Tourism, these new connections should have a positive impact on tourism in Alberta.

He says the tourism industry is slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels and believes the new routes will attract more travellers.

“Any time you add direct flights, I think it increases people's desire to travel.

—Todd Loewen, Provincial Minister of Forestry, Parks and Tourism

He believes that the increase in flights could encourage travelers to make an unscheduled stop in Alberta. They may have traveled halfway around the world to get to Vancouver, for example, and when they see there's a direct flight to Edmonton they'll jump on it and be able to see a different part of Canada than they didn't. #x27;have never had the chance to see before.

These are big announcements, says David Goldstein, CEO of Travel Alberta, for whom the new routes mean the province is becoming a major player in the airline industry.

For Travel Alberta, this is very important to improve our competition in foreign markets, especially major centers in the United States and other centers international.

David Goldstein expects to have more tourism in the province. It gives us a lot of opportunities to attract visitors like Americans and Europeans, he points out, adding that it is tourists [from abroad] who spend more than domestic travelers.< /p>

“There was a long history with the Japanese market and the Rockies. We think we can rebuild those ties […] with a direct flight to Calgary. ”

— David Goldstein, CEO of Travel Alberta

Great air connectivity in Calgary is critical to the tourism industry, so new announced flights are great news, says Cindy Ady, CEO of Tourism Calgary, in an emailed statement.