RMA’s Agritourism Strategy Working Group’s final report, Growing Success: Advancing Agritourism in Alberta, is now publicly available.
The Working Group was established to support the development of a comprehensive provincial strategy for agritourism that facilitates the sector’s responsible growth, promotion, and long-term sustainability in Alberta. Membership included the RMA, Alberta Tourism and Sport, Agritourism Alberta, an agritourism operator, and RMA member municipalities. The Working Group met and engaged with stakeholders throughout spring and summer of 2026. Through these meetings and accompanying research, the working group identified five themes in Alberta’s agritourism sector:
- Risk
- Regulatory barriers and challenges
- Education and promotion
- Operator support
- Identifying and leveraging partnerships
These themes were used to inform the six recommendations made by the Working Group. The recommendations represent the next phase of work, which requires action by the Government of Alberta, Agritourism Alberta, and rural municipal governments. The six recommendations are:
- Establish a provincial definition of “agritourism” to support development of promotional materials, policy development, and capacity-building supports
- Enhance liability protection for agritourism operators through standardized signage and risk communication materials, backed by legislation
- Seek opportunities to develop municipal policies and approval processes to encourage agritourism development at the local level
- Promote agritourism through an official public awareness and marketing campaign
- Implement a centralized agritourism operator hub to support sector access to data, regulatory information, best practices and other resources
- Coordinate a multi-stakeholder agritourism advisory committee to action the report recommendations and continue to drive long-term sector growth and evolution
Although the report is the final deliverable of the Working Group, RMA will continue to advocate for changes that enable the agritourism sector. RMA looks forward to continuing to advance these recommendations collaboratively with the Government of Alberta, industry representatives, and other stakeholders who see the benefit of creating new opportunities for economic development in rural Alberta.
For more information, contact RMA’s Policy and Advocacy Team at advocacy@rmalberta.com.