Travel Alberta wants U.S. visitors to see the warmth in province's winter experiences

Travel Alberta is promoting winter travel across the province with a U.S. ad campaign that the tourism industry says shows early promise. 

Catchy Instagram and Facebook ads gracing feeds and timelines in California, Texas and New York are touting Alberta's winter wonderland — trying to entice a type of traveller who comes to the province spending more cash and staying more nights than Canadian counterparts.

The multi-faceted campaign, which launched last September, starts with airlines. Travel Alberta chief marketing officer Tannis Gaffney said working with Air Canada and Westjet to connect their targeted states through direct flights was the first step. 

Then, there are the web-based ads. 

"Americans are very interested in coming to Canada for our wide open spaces, our welcoming nature, our friendliness," Gaffney said. 

The campaign uses lines like: "You've never experienced a winter like this" and "Winter is where things really heat up in Alberta."

And, of course, videos full of stunning views of the Rockies and a soundtrack to carry the slow-motion scenes of skiers, a winter fly fisher, hot tub splashing and the occasional wild horse. 

An unpaid actor in all of this, Gaffney mentions, is Pedro Pascal and The Last of Us crew, doing the work in interviews to plug the province.

"There is no influencer we could hire that would be better than Pedro Pascal," she said. "He said something about Canmore, he was talking about High River, I saw him talking about Nanton, Fort Macleod. That's priceless."

They are already trying to capitalize on the series' success with itineraries for fans, she added. 

For the tourism industry, Gaffney said, getting U.S. visitor levels back to 2019 levels is what businesses need to recover. 

Canadian travellers are showing up, but because many of those visits include crashing on a couch at a friend's place or visiting family — they aren't spending as much. 

"An American visitor will spend more," Gaffney said. "They stay longer and they spend more money. And it's not just the U.S. in general. We're really strategic about three key states."