Invest in Camrose's Tourism Sector
The Alberta Advantage
In the simplest of terms, the province of Alberta and the City of Camrose both represent absolutely outstanding places to invest in a tourism business.
Location, Location, Location
Over 50% of Alberta's population lives in either Calgary or Edmonton which makes the corridor between and including the two cities one of the most densely populated areas in Canada. This proximity to key markets is one of the greatest competitive advantages for Camrose businesses. Distances from these key markets and their relative populations are as follows:
City | Population (2024) | Distance from Camrose |
|---|---|---|
Lloydminster | 38,214 | 225 km |
Leduc | 41,992 | 74 km |
Red Deer | 118,463 | 140 km |
Calgary | 1,506,479 | 290 km |
Edmonton | 1,163,271 | 95 km |
Key Tourism Markets
Who is Visiting Alberta?
Alberta had 37.7 million guests with 84% (31.7M) of those visitors being from Alberta.
Alberta has one of the country's most youthful and wealthy populations - in fact, the fastest-growing with the highest median incomes in all of Canada who spent over $6.3 billion in 2022 exploring Alberta alone.
Key international markets making up 38% of Alberta's visitor economy are from:
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USA
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United Kingdom
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France
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Japan
Alberta is outpacing the rest of Canada significantly with Alberta's international visitation a full 16% ahead of Canada's overall growth from these international markets.
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Germany
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South Korea
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Netherlands
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Mexico
Welcome to The
Central Prairies Tourism Region
There were 6.7 million visits to this region in 2023 with these visitors spending $2.3B for an average spend per overnight of $678 per visitor (the third highest visitation and second highest spend in the entire province).
Seasonality
While it's no surprise that summer is the season that sees the greatest visitation/spend, it is actually a very positive sign that the difference in visitation/spend between seasons is actually very small. This suggests that the region is attractive to guests over all four seasons, which is critical for the economic health of any tourism business.
Camrose's Lifestyle
Camrose has 333 sunny days per year on average and is truly the quintessential rural Albertan town. With a population of just over 20,000 people, it is a very unique city combining a rich history derived in part from the original Indigenous and Metis peoples combined with the strong Scandianvian settlers that first created Stoney Creek, the forebearer of Camrose. Camrose is both a university town and the economic, administrative, health care, and recreation hub for the surrounding rural region.
The Community Advantages
The City of Camrose is called the “City of Roses”, and this moniker captures the quaint beauty of this remarkable community.
Camrose is known for several remarkable reasons:
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Thriving arts & culture scene
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2 live performance theatres & host of Big Valley Jamboree country music festival
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Vibrant retail sector
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Known for women's boutique shopping attracting patrons from Edmonton and surrounding areas.
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Recreation assets in Camrose and Camrose County
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20 campgrounds
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7 golf courses
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Miquelon Lake Provincial Park
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34km of multi-use trails in Camrose and another 10km of bike-only trails
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There can be few places left in Canada that provide such an idyllic location to bring up a young family. Between the excellent schools serving all ages from kindergarten to graduate studies, the plethora of recreation facilities that are of quality that attract televised competitions to the robust health care system, Camrose remains a remarkable place for entrepreneurs to make their home.
Cost of Doing Business in Camrose
From a cost-of-doing business perspective, Camrose provides an outstanding business environment. Critical business expenses are both low and extremely stable. The few taxes that exist and the cost of utilities are low and very stable year to year relative to other jurisdictions – in particular relative to owning a business in Edmonton.
Real estate prices are also low relative to Edmonton, allowing businesses the luxury of owning their infrastructure – a key pillar to ensuring a successful exit strategy when that day arrives.
