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(Dreamstime)

Provincial campsite reservations up 5,400%, most other tourism indicators down

Oct 29, 2020 | 11:56 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – With little ability for Albertans to recreate outside of their home province or country in 2020, many have been choosing to have fun a little closer to home.

The most recent Alberta Tourism Market Monitor report shows that most aspects of tourism are down or saw little growth, but one area exploded in popularity.

In September 2019, there were 5,209 campsite reservations at provincial parks. This September, that number shot up to 286,657, an increase of 5,403 per cent.

While that was the most drastic year-over-year comparison, the figures throughout this spring and summer are significantly higher than in the same periods last year.

A comparison of provincial campsite reservations are as follows:

(Lethbridge News Now)

In September, Waterton Lakes National Park saw an increase in attendance of 15 per cent while Banff (-1.4 per cent) and Jasper (0.1 per cent) saw slight declines.

In August, the Calgary and Edmonton International Airports experienced a 79.8 per cent drop in passengers.

Occupancy rates at accommodation providers fell 27 per cent while the average daily room rate got 14.7 per cent more affordable during the month of August.

For hotels in Lethbridge, the average occupancy rate was 38.1 per cent with rooms going for $91.14. There was, however, no year-over-year comparison.

In September, employment in the food and accommodation sector declined 23.3 per cent.

Historic sites and museums saw 64.2 per cent fewer guests in September.

For all of these numbers, it should be noted that a state of public health emergency was first declared in Alberta on March 17 for COVID-19 and a series of business and travel restrictions were first enacted.

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