International tourism on the rise in Calgary after a busy summer – Calgary [Video]

A busy summer travel season and a record-breaking Calgary Stampede have led to a significant rise in the number of international tourists visiting Calgary.

Tourism Calgary has shared its latest numbers, which show that as many as 8.7 million people will pass through the city by the end of the year, leading to an estimated economic impact of $3.2 billion.

Much of that spending can be attributed to a 17 per cent increase in the number of international travellers, many of whom are visiting from the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States and Mexico.

Some of those from overseas took in the Calgary Stampede, which broke its all-time attendance record with 1,477,953 people passing through the gates.

Tourism Calgary’s vice-president of marketing, Jeff Hesselc, said that while the international numbers are encouraging, the growth of domestic tourism is not keeping pace.

“As people are now heading further afield and going to other destinations around the world, we are seeing a …