Vanfan123
Active Member
Fair Points &
% true
Edmonton 2 top main attractions- Rogers Place (for hockey
/ Music Concerts 
events ) & West Edmonton Mall are what brings visitors to YEG area year round & (also Summer festivals).
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Edmonton International Airport (EIA/YEG)
- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
% trueEdmonton 2 top main attractions- Rogers Place (for hockey
/ Music Concerts events ) & West Edmonton Mall are what brings visitors to YEG area year round & (also Summer festivals).Oilers99
Active Member
Few things to note about Edmonton as well from a business standpoint. Many wealthy Edmontonians and business people either have their own private aircraft or use companies like Aurora or AirSprint because of the lack of flights. This then results even fewer businesses using the reduced options.
David A
Senior Member
It may be here to stay, but in Canada there are really just two or maybe three real hubs and they are our three largest cities. Any place else being called a hub is somewhat artificial and forced.
Glenco
Senior Member
Quite the conundrum how do you attract business activity when you have lousy airline connections?
yeggator
Active Member
You build the high-speed rail line to decouple the success of your local business environment from the success of your airport. Our airport will struggle to attract flights when it’s built, but that’s not a new problem. At least then you can tell businesses that we’re a quick train trip from major connections rather than a stupid short-haul flight and layover. Then, you build up the business and leisure travel base to attract the point-to-point flights by sheer demand for destinations/frequency and capacity issues.
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Tropical
Active Member
Am I the only one who doesn't find connections through Vancouver and Toronto stupid or short-haul? I feel the same way about connections I've had in Los Angeles, Munich, Tokyo, London, Dallas...
MakeYEGGreatAgain
New Member
Things happen in tandem. What does the city/province do to create attractions? What incentives do you give to businesses to stay and expand? What efforts are there to bring major events? What freebies do you give airlines to bring service or add new routes? Problem is that everything we do is little/small scale that does not amount to anything in the end. Or not sustained. When was the las time Edmonton hosted a global conference that attracted 5,000 delegates?
TAS
Senior Member
Some major events:
2026 International Indigenous Tourism Conference (IITC): Scheduled for February 17–19, 2026, at the Edmonton Convention Centre, this is considered the world's largest Indigenous tourism conference. It attracts international delegates to discuss the growth of Indigenous-led tourism and is a significant event for reconciliation, featuring cultural tours and workshops. 1,100 delgates expected from 11 countries.
Upper Bound AI Conference: Hosted by the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), this is a major AI event in Edmonton that draws thousands of international researchers, industry leaders, and AI enthusiasts. In 2026, it willl bring 6,000 attendees to the city May 19-22
Canadian Hydrogen Convention: As Canada's first hydrogen hub, Edmonton hosts this large-scale international event gathering global energy leaders, government officials, and innovators to discuss the hydrogen economy. 2500 delegates and 8,000 attendees expected overall (exhibitors, speakers etc) April 21-23
Other notable conferences:
Edmonton was shortlisted to host the 2026 IASP World Conference (International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation), highlighting its role in technology and research.
The city has also previously hosted large-scale academic gatherings like the C2UExpo and specialized international events such as the Diabetes Canada Professional Conference.
Not a global conference, but surprisingly the 2025 Volleyball Youth National Championships brought 19,000 athletes across Canada and 30,000 people in total to city for $20million economic benefit. That had been 8th year hosting. A lot of that is going to Calgary though in 2026 although Edmonton is still hosting some (not same level though).
Explore Edmonton is apparently working on some secret bid with some of the $11 million city provided to it for 2026.
Yeggy
Active Member
The thing that reinforces hub and spoke is Canada’s regulated/restricted airspace. If Air*whatever country only gets 4 flights in and out of Canada they arent going to put any in Edmonton.
Out Airspace isnt a free market for outsiders, meanwhile we can fly point to point to any major municipality in Canda because there are no/less restrictions for domestic carriers.
Out Airspace isnt a free market for outsiders, meanwhile we can fly point to point to any major municipality in Canda because there are no/less restrictions for domestic carriers.
David A
Senior Member
You are not the only one. In the past I flew from Vancouver to Asia making connections there that are good and make perfect sense because of its location. Also, I just recently did the same from Toronto going to places south and east of it that also makes good sense. It is also a natural hub for such flights because of its size and location.
The connections from here that do not make sense are the stops nearby going south and having to fly south to go to major European destinations. Again I maintain that a forced and artificial hub is different than a real and natural one and that is our real problem.
roe_
Active Member
I have to disagree. While the hub-and-spoke model is real, the idea that Edmonton has 'nothing to offer' is more of a local myth than a business reality.
We actually have a massive advantage right now: we’re a high-income, low-tax option for Canadians who are currently avoiding US travel. What feels 'routine' to a local is actually a huge draw for tourists looking for something new. Add in the essential travel from local industry and the business case for more seats is actually quite strong. The biggest thing holding YEG back isn't our geography, it’s our own habit of underestimating the city’s value.
David A
Senior Member
Yes, also our city and airport is at the size where we should have better service than we currently do now. It is partly our lack of self confidence and being meek and mild that stops us from asserting this better.
AntonK
New Member
It's two issues combined. The hub and spoke system that has served YYC well is a big part of it, but the other problem is it's really hard to draw tourists to a city in North America for the sake of visiting the city itself. We have offerings, but so do all cities and our geography kind of is a problem in that we're near YYC, which has Banff, and it's really hard to compete with that.
I'm not saying we can't do something here, but clearly we need to do something that's a game changer. In previous years we had WEM as a tourist attraction that could draw people, but that has fallen off. This recent survey by Tripadvisor, https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/TravelersChoice-Destinations-cTop-g153339 shows Edmonton as the 20th most popular destination in Canada, after other cites Vancouver #2, Montreal #4, Victoria #6, Toronto #8 Quebec #9, Halifax #11 Calgary #12, Ottawa#15 and Winnipeg #19.
David A
Senior Member
For a long time Travel Alberta focused mostly on promoting tourism to the mountains. I realize that may be changing some, but Edmonton itself also has to step up to facilitate and promote tourism more too.
Perhaps because our economy does not rely on this, for a long time we have treated tourists here as an after thought. For instance, it is hard to get from downtown to the airport and the train station is not well located either.
Oilers99
Active Member
We will continue to lose flights as a result of people slowing travel to the US. AC doesn't care about us and WJ already has their Calgary HQ. It's really unfortunate but this is the reality.
www.ctvnews.ca
Reduction in U.S. flights from Edmonton a reflection of demand: WestJet
WestJet is decreasing its flights from Edmonton to the United States.
www.ctvnews.ca