TIAA Response to Alberta's Proposed Ticket Resale Reforms
Alberta has introduced proposed regulations that would place new limits on ticket reselling and scalping for events in the province.
The rules, outlined in a recent government announcement, aim to curb practices such as automated bulk purchasing of tickets by bots and the resale of tickets at significantly inflated prices. Officials said the measures would give consumers clearer protections and make it harder for scalpers to dominate primary sales, while still allowing some legitimate secondary market activity under tighter conditions.
TIAA Response to Alberta's Proposed Ticket Resale Reforms
The Tourism Industry Association of Alberta (TIAA) welcomes the Government of Alberta's proposed changes to strengthen consumer protections in the secondary ticket resale market, including greater price transparency and the potential regulation of resale markups.
Major concerts, sporting events and cultural experiences are important drivers of Alberta's visitor economy, attracting visitors who spend money on accommodations, restaurants, attractions and other tourism experiences.
Inflated ticket costs can crowd-out discretionary spending that visitors might otherwise direct toward building a more complete destination experience: including overnight accommodation, dining, attractions and extended stays. The potential consequences extend beyond ticket affordability to lost opportunities for local businesses, employment and visitor spending, making Alberta’s ambitions of building a $25B tourism industry by 2035 that much harder to achieve.
TIAA believes the proposed reforms offer an opportunity to not only tackle consumer protections, but also the broader economic benefits of ensuring that major events in Alberta generate as much value for Alberta's visitor economy as possible.
As government develops the regulations, TIAA encourages consideration of three priorities:
Ensuring resale pricing and fee regulations limit excessive speculative markups and improve affordability.
Protecting the ability of legitimate tourism businesses to package event tickets with accommodations, dining, attractions and other experiences that encourage longer visitor stays.
Evaluating the economic impact of secondary ticket pricing on visitor spending, length of stay, local employment and Alberta's competitiveness in attracting major events.
TIAA looks forward to contributing to the government's consultations to ensure Alberta's ticketing framework supports consumers, event organizers and the broader visitor economy.
