Calgary 'bucking the trend' as U.S. visits to area surge amid nationwide slump

Canada may be seeing fewer American visitors this spring, but Calgary is proving to be the outlier.

Statistics Canada released data this week showing 1.3 million U.S. residents made trips to Canada in April, which is down 8.9 per cent from the same month in 2024.

Looking at air travel specifically, StatsCan released data earlier this month that showed a six-per-cent drop in U.S. residents arriving at major Canadian airports in April 2025, compared to April the previous year.

However, at the Calgary International Airport, the picture was completely different, with U.S. arrivals up by 29 per cent.

Calgary's airport has been an outlier for several months in a row, with a six-per-cent increase in U.S. visitors in February and an eight-per-cent increase in March.

Across all major Canadian airports, by contrast, air travel by American residents was pretty much unchanged in February and March, compared to the same months in 2024.

"Calgary and Alberta have so much to offer," said Alisha Reynolds, president with Tourism Calgary. "We're delighted to be bucking the trend."

Reynolds said data has indicated that spending from the United States has trended positive since the beginning of the year in Calgary, and it has maintained strength through to the end of April.

She noted that Mastercard Economics Institute ranked Calgary among the emerging top destinations for summer travel among the US and Canada relative to the same time last year, the only Canadian city to make that list.

The tourism industry has been navigating a complex backdrop in recent months, with fewer Canadians travelling to the United States since U.S. President Donald Trump's election win. On the flip side, tourism associations have worried that Americans might stay home, fearing a less-than-receptive response from Canadians.

Asked why Calgary is doing so well relative to other Canadian cities, Reynolds suggested coordinated advertising and a busy convention calendar could have been contributors.

"We take a 'Team Alberta' approach … between Tourism Calgary and Travel Alberta," she said. "We've made a concerted effort through all this noise to target U.S. travelers to reinforce our city and our province as destinations of choice for both business and leisure."

The Calgary Airport Authority said it had seen the increase in visitation to Calgary from U.S. residents this April.

It attributed that increase to a number of factors, including stronger air connectivity with U.S. routes, major event activity and favourable currency exchange for U.S. travellers.