INNISFAIL - There is more to Alberta than just mountains.
That's what farmers and tour operators from around the world learned when they stopped in Innisfail as part of an international agricultural conference.
The annual event, hosted by Agricultural Tour Operators International (ATOI) is held in a different city every year. This year, a three-day conference was held in Niagara Falls, Ont. Farmers and tour operators made a visit last fall to Central Alberta as part of a pre-tour, thanks to local longtime ATOI member Select Holidays.
"The purpose of hosting the conference, pre-tour and post-tour is to showcase your country and show international tour operators why they should bring tours to your country," said Kayla Dyck, marketing and operations manager with Select Holidays. "We hosted the pre-tour this year in Alberta and showed them what Alberta has to offer and why they should bring tours to Alberta."
Thirty-six members from 24 different countries came to Canada and took part in a pre-tour in Alberta and British Columbia and a post-tour in Quebec. The main event took place Oct. 17 to 19 in Ontario. Farmers and tour operators came from Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Brazil, Argentina, Italy and other counties.
Select Holidays worked with Travel Alberta and welcomed visitors to Innisfail and area for the pre-tour from Oct. 8 to 13.
"With this group being agricultural tour operators, they wanted to see all aspects of agriculture here in Alberta," said Dyck, noting the group also toured the Calgary Stampede grounds before making their way to Innisfail for tours in rural Alberta.
"We brought them to Olds College and that afternoon we visited Happy Cow Dairy, a dairy farm just east of Innisfail," she said, adding they finished the day with a visit to Discovery Wildlife Park.
During the remaining four days of their stay in Alberta, guests had a chance to learn about communal farming and other local family farm operations. They enjoyed a dinner at the Innisfail Golf Club that was made with fresh, local and Alberta-grown foods. They wrapped up their Alberta visit with a trip to Banff.
"It's not just about bringing tours here, it's bringing agricultural based tours," said Dyck. "We specialize in taking farmers around the world to see farms and to see different styles of farming."
ATOI celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2016 with the first tour held in Canada, she said, noting the success of the pre-tour last fall.
"We have about five different groups confirmed that are coming next summer to do tours," said Dyck. "We want to show off our country and Western Canada."
Kayla Dyck, marketing and operations manager with Select Holidays
"We hosted the pre-tour this year in Alberta and showed them what Alberta has to offer and why they should bring tours to Alberta."
