Calgary: Canada's Best for Business.

Set in the rolling foothills against the majestic Canadian Rockies to the west and the great plains to the east, Calgary offers visitors the experience of two exciting worlds--stimulating, big-city life and wilderness adventure.

The area has a reputation for warm and friendly hospitality and, as host to millions of visitors each year, we work hard to provide the very best possible standards of facilities and services. Calgary's hospitality industry has perfected the art of hosting conventions and business meetings--with large conference rooms, convenient travel connections, spacious accommodations, and knowledgeable professionals, Calgary offers you and your delegates swift and courteous service.

Calgary currently offers 10,300 hotel and motel rooms, 3,780 of which are in the downtown core. Nineteen new hotels are in the process of being built, and five more properties are in the proposal stage of development. When all of the confirmed hotels are complete, the total number of rooms will rise to 10,875 with 4,130 in the downtown area.

"Calgary has shown strong and steady growth over the past couple of years," says Wayne Peterson, president and CEO of the Calgary Convention and Visitors Bureau (CCVB). "Existing products already provide an excellent foundation for growth. New properties will create a better product mix for our markets--near and far-and optimize tourism benefits to the city"

Calgary's downtown core is a safe haven for visitors and provides a world of shopping, dining, and nightlife. An elevated and enclosed Plus-15 walkway system connects many buildings in the downtown with exciting specialty shops, department stores, and restaurants.

But Calgary's accommodation alternatives don't end downtown--from the Calgary International Airport to the far southwest corner of the city, Calgary's accommodations range from luxury hotels to quaint bed and breakfasts just perfect for smaller meetings and executive retreats.

Exhibition Facilities

Every July the city comes alive with the famous Calgary Stampede, a 10-day extravaganza of rodeo, chuckwagon races, pancake breakfasts, square dancing, and more. The Stampede is nearing completion of the first phase of a $60 million expansion and redevelopment, which will add 50,000 gross square feet of exhibit space to the Roundup Centre.

Other construction was also recently completed on the TELUS Convention Center, which has a 20,000-square-foot ballroom, more than 82,000 square feet of exhibit space, three prefunction areas, and 23 breakout rooms, bringing the total combined square footage of usable meeting space to 120,000. This is part of a $150,000 million downtown redevelopment that will also add a 355-room Hyatt hotel, 32,000 square feet of new city-owned retail space on the first floor of the convention center, and a row of historic sandstone buildings to the block.