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Edmonton Journal

Edmonton tourism riding wave of Oilers playoffs run, Canadians avoiding the U.S.

Article content Fowler said the city making it onto the Lonely Planet's Best in Travel List was a significant triumph for the city after some tough criticism in years past. Article content 'It was a huge deal for us, especially just how far we've come in the eyes of Lonely Planet. If you look at 2015 reviews of us, they're not as nice. They are very honest. So just seeing the development of our indigenous tourism experience, our culinary (tourism), the Ice District, that really helped us get there,' said Fowler. Article content The result, according to Fowler is momentum in the city's tourism that the group continues to try and maintain in a variety of ways, including billboard campaigns in American cities with direct flights to Edmonton. Article content Measuring momentum in outsiders' interest in a city isn't easy, but one indicator that Explore Edmonton tracks is flight searches. This year, Edmonton saw a more than 76 per cent increase in searches for flights to the city from all markets throughout June compared to last year. The interest in Edmonton is even higher among Canadian travellers, which showed a more than 117 per cent jump in searches compared to last year, which could be partially attributed to the ongoing trade war with the United States. Article content Article content 'I know some people that won't go now to the States. Now that being said, we are still seeing Americans coming here,' said Kanash, adding 'maybe not as much.' Article content Explore Edmonton's data indicates a nearly 20 per cent drop in bookings to Edmonton from American cities, but has notably seen a more than 10 per cent increase in bookings compared to last year for travellers coming from other parts of the country, and a 1.4 per cent increase from all markets. Article content Regardless of what's bringing people to the city, Fowler said Explore Edmonton just wants to keep visitors coming. Article content 'We're just really excited about the momentum behind our city right now, and excited for the rest of the world to experience it.' Article content