Tourist Attractions you would like to see in Calgary

[*Stardust*]

On the construction thread people were talking about how Calgary is a great place a live, but not a great place to visit. I absolutely agree! I had family that came in from Montreal a few weeks ago and I was struggling to think of things to do. The weather was horrible so we couldn't even go to the tower..

The National Music Centre is gonna be an excellent addition to the city and a good tourist attraction. Same with the Art Gallery in the old science centre. L As the city gets bigger, what attractions would you like to see in Calgary?

[kw5150]

A permanent roller coaster on the stampede ground! haha. And some water slides would be nice.

[Canadian74]

Ferris wheel like the Singapore Flyer around 150m tall.......

[Spring2008]

Too bad the Stampede board appears to be incompetent. The area could/should be a big outdoor market like Granville, or even a potentially a strip of big, late night clubs with all that excess land that is underutilized most of the year.

[Spring2008]

Would love to see something similar to the Vancouver Aquarium, as well as a garden as large and varied as Montreal Botanical Gardens.

[Calgarian]

Just got back from Ottawa, would love to see something like Byward Market here, what a great area that is!

[Boris2k7]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Just got back from Ottawa, would love to see something like Byward Market here, what a great area that is!

If they could manage something like Byward Market on the Stampede Grounds (with East Victoria and the Elbow River both adjacent) I could even forgive the inevitable Western theming. Unfortunately, we come back to the issue with competency there...

As for other stuff I'd like to see, umm...

I think we could work some more on continuing to make COP a year-round thing, and better connecting it to the rest of the city. My company had its Christmas Party in some of the new facilities and they are just spectacular. Maybe the addition of a major hotel and some retail could transform that place into something special.

I'm not really all that fond of tourist traps (I actively avoid them when I travel, even the tours...), but a substantial art gallery would be awesome. Also, maybe beefing up some of the promenades and major viewpoints around the city and clearly marking them out on maps and brochures.

[Doug]

The easiest would be to extend Stampede to a full month. It could attract big names acts no problem.

The next easiest would be more hotels and attractions in Banff.

[suburbia]

Originally Posted by Boris2k7

If they could manage something like Byward Market on the Stampede Grounds (with East Victoria and the Elbow River both adjacent) I could even forgive the inevitable Western theming.

Byward Market works because it is a very short walk from where thousands of people work. That is not the case with the Stampede Grounds. Olympic Plaza's location could work for a Byward Market, as an example, and the Bow South block is located well but is way too small.

Of course, I don't like the idea of losing the city square in front of city hall either. Maybe it could be integrated into the east-facing portion of the library, which will be connected via the municipal building.

Anyway, I think a quick win would be a couple major permanent rides on Stampede Park, as others have mentioned.

I also think innovative transit in and of itself could be a tourist attention getter. Consider a gondola between the university campuses and the train stations. Would be an amazing view me thinks!

[RWin]

Cultural stuff - more museums, art galleries.

Film movies in Calgary that actually take place in Calgary.

[Cage]

South Calgary could use its own version of Calaway Park. Perhaps to be unique the South Calaway could have water theme/park to it.

Another tourist destination would be big park like Central Park in NY, even if its on the scale of Hawrelak Park in Edmonton. Bowness Park reno has the potential but wrong location (needs access to sun plus a large lake/body of water).

Maintain a large Zoo would be a nice tourist attraction goal. I am not trying to put down the Calgary Zoo after the flood, but even before the flood they had plans to shrink the assortment of animals at the zoo. For example The monkeys and elephants are gone; these were among the more popular attractions.

If you want to go all in for Western and Cowboy culture, then looking at something like Sovereign Hill at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.

[artvandelay]

An aquarium would be cool, I think there used to be one at the Calgary Brewery.

[kw5150]

Nice, and with the river there, the possibilities are really endless. You only have to look forward into the future a bit to see the potential of the area. Why the stampede is not already a year round attraction is beyond me......they were on their way to developing stampede trail, but hopefully they are going back to the books to revise it make it even better with more density.

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Just got back from Ottawa, would love to see something like Byward Market here, what a great area that is!

[RyLucky]

I think Calgary has a lot of cool stuff going on that most people just don't know about. When I have guests, I always try to impress them with a lot of fun events, live music, and festivals if in season. If they are the kind of guest who I can get on a bike, a raft, or a canoe, that's my go-to. Most guests also seem fascinated with the c-train and stampede stuff.

As for touristy stuff - the #1 thing that would help the reputation of Calgary as a tourist destination doesn't have to do with museums or tourist sites; Calgary needs more lively high-streets. There's no better way to get a feel for a town than walking around its crowded streets and people watching from its parks and patios. Several visitors are impressed with the rivers and parks, but I've heard more that one mention they were surprised there weren't more pubs and restaurants along the water. I think it's a good idea.

[kw5150]

Like near the peace bridge and kensington? The Simmons building will be the new go-to place.

Originally Posted by RyLucky

I think Calgary has a lot of cool stuff going on that most people just don't know about. When I have guests, I always try to impress them with a lot of fun events, live music, and festivals if in season. If they are the kind of guest who I can get on a bike, a raft, or a canoe, that's my go-to. Most guests also seem fascinated with the c-train and stampede stuff.

As for touristy stuff - the #1 thing that would help the reputation of Calgary as a tourist destination doesn't have to do with museums or tourist sites; Calgary needs more lively high-streets. There's no better way to get a feel for a town than walking around its crowded streets and people watching from its parks and patios. Several visitors are impressed with the rivers and parks, but I've heard more that one mention they were surprised there weren't more pubs and restaurants along the water. I think it's a good idea.

[Calgarian]

Originally Posted by RyLucky

Several visitors are impressed with the rivers and parks, but I've heard more that one mention they were surprised there weren't more pubs and restaurants along the water. I think it's a good idea.

Hopefully the Simmons building starts this trend!

[MichaelS]

Originally Posted by Spring2008

Too bad the Stampede board appears to be incompetent. The area could/should be a big outdoor market like Granville, or even a potentially a strip of big, late night clubs with all that excess land that is underutilized most of the year.

This. I think this could be a big destination for tourists. And it definitely should be western themed. That is something we can work on and brand for tourists so they easily associate Calgary with it, and most importantly differentiate us with it. Confine the look to Stampede Park, so we don't have to brand the rest of the city like that. But, a tourist coming to experience the cowboy culture of western Canada can easily get their fill. I don't know if many people would come to Calgary specifically over many other world cities to see our "high streets", but give them something unique like the cowboy theme, and I can see it being more of a draw.

I should add that this shouldn't be the ONLY thing we push for tourism, but it could be the defining/leading push. We have so many other cool and unique attractions, that just need to be promoted (and perhaps set up with better infrastructure/tourist companies). I think one of the most unique things is rafting the rivers in summer.

I have family coming in to Calgary from the east coast this summer, and can't wait to take them on the Elbow.

One more edit: This is a big step in the right direction. Let's hope it is successful:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/travel/...225/story.html

[RyLucky]

Simmons will be great. If the Stampede wasn't such a terrible absentee landlord, it would be awesome to develop a little canalfront village along the Elbow too with lots of little shops and restaurants and residents living overhead. Calgary's rivers are great, but we could take a note from San Antonio and Kyoto and Venice. More patios in general would be a good thing. Not sure how the AGLC would feel about it, but a public beer garden would be great too - kind of like every Calgary festival, but with permanent infrastructure.

[H.E.Pennypacker]

Originally Posted by Spring2008

Too bad the Stampede board appears to be incompetent. The area could/should be a big outdoor market like Granville, or even a potentially a strip of big, late night clubs with all that excess land that is underutilized most of the year.

I think in due time that will change and it will improve .. Seems like the BoD there has some older folks on it that influence decisions and run the show, as they retire and a younger crowd is brought in I think some good decisions will be made

Doubtful they'll be able to do it to the full potential though

[ue]

Originally Posted by Calgarian

Just got back from Ottawa, would love to see something like Byward Market here, what a great area that is!

Agreed. I never got why Calgary doesn't seem to have the urban farmers markets that Edmonton does (City Market, Old Scona Market, 124 Grand Market, and a new second one to open downtown in May). It could use a couple nice, well used, and hopefully year-round market either on Stephen Ave, the East Village, the Beltline, West End, Kensington, etc.

Something like the ByWard Market would be a great goal for the city, but if it wanted to test the waters, it could try something akin to the City Market in Edmonton if outdoors or the Old Scona one if year-round and indoors. Both Marche Jean-Talon and Marche Atwater in Montreal would also great sources of inspiration.

Originally Posted by RWin

Cultural stuff - more museums, art galleries.

Film movies in Calgary that actually take place in Calgary.

Agreed. When I look at things Calgary could improve on, I often think of things Edmonton excels at in contrast. It's the same in reverse, i.e. things Edmonton could improve on often happen to be things Calgary excels at (downtown as a destination, better zoo, more innovative post-2000 architecture, better expo, etc).

Something that Calgary definitely needs to work on is museums (especially the art museum). The aforementioned market thing is another, as would a better historical museum (a la Fort Edmonton).

That being said, I do kind of like that one city excels at certain things, while the other excels at other things. It keeps things interesting. Calgary and Edmonton could develop more amenities and attractions that the other excels at, but I'd hope they do it in a different way to differentiate themselves. Both cities are similar enough!

The filming point is also something I'd agree with, but it's not an issue specific to Calgary. We could also use more films shot and set in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, and Halifax. We need to develop a better film industry that isn't just an extension of Hollywood for it to use us for cheap filming, but that's another issue entirely.