Edmonton Offering Attractions Pass to Save Money

Whether you're getting ready to rev your engine for a visit to the Castrol Raceway, looking to test your arcade skills on the tempting K-Days midway or preparing to travel back in time at Fort Edmonton Park, an Edmonton Attractions Pass is your ticket to seeing more while saving more.

With 16 must-see attractions in the greater Edmonton region, visiting these destinations is less expensive than you might think. Use an Edmonton Attractions Pass and your vacation will be transformed into a main event with options allowing you to select your four favourite stops or if you have the time, you can see it all, at savings of up to 60 per cent.

"The pass makes it affordable for a family to take advantage of an incredible array of attractions in this city and it introduces them to attractions that they might not have even been aware of," says Rob Tanner of the Edmonton Attractions Consortia, adding that interest in the Edmonton Attractions Pass continues to grow, with sales up by 25 per cent in the first five months of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012.

Unrivalled Experiences

Are you a culture vulture? An outdoor enthusiast? Or just a kid at heart? The customizable Edmonton Attractions Pass allows you to create a vacation itinerary that is right for you. Try one of these four suggested itineraries to help make your next trip to Edmonton even more memorable.

• Culture Vulture Tour: Visit the iconic Art Gallery of Alberta, the Royal Alberta Museum, the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village and travel through time to Edmonton's early days at Fort Edmonton Park.
• Outdoor Enthusiast Tour: Check out the Devonian Botanic Garden, the Muttart Conservatory with incredible outdoor climates captured in magnificent glass pyramids, the Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm - a great choice for those with children - and the Edmonton Valley Zoo.
• Kid at Heart Tour: Its planes, trains - if you include the 1919 Baldwin Steam Train at Fort Edmonton Park - and automobiles of the race car variety. There's the Alberta Aviation Museum, Fort Edmonton Park, Castrol Raceway, and K-Days at Northlands - an extravaganza of fun, music, a midway and more.
• The Mix and Match Tour: Start with the Leduc #1 Energy Discovery Centre, where you'll learn what it's like to drill for oil, add in a stop at the TELUS World of Science-Edmonton where the kids can interact with the life-sized RoboThespian (a humanoid robot), then mix in a trip to Marine Life at West Edmonton Mall and use this last slot as your wild-card choice.

Pick Your Pass

Now that we've got your planning process started, here's what you need to know about the Edmonton Attractions Pass. It is a one-stop, value-driven pass that can be purchased online at www.edmontonattractions.com where you'll find two options:

• The Ultimate Pass, valid for the calendar year in which it is purchased. It allows the user to one admission to each of the 16 participating Edmonton Attractions. The cost is $59.95 plus GST for adults; $45.00 plus GST for children 3-17.
• The U-Pick Pass entitles the user admission to their choice of any four Edmonton attractions but attractions must be selected at the time of purchase. The cost is $29.95 plus GST for adults; $22.50 plus GST for children 3-17.

Ultimate and U-Pick passes can also be purchased at Alberta Motor Association centres across Alberta. Prices will vary depending on whether or not you are an AMA member. But if you're already on your way, there is a third option:

• The Ready Pass is available at select Edmonton hotels and Edmonton Tourism Visitor Information Centres. Similar to its U-Pick counterpart, with identical pricing for four attractions at $29.95 plus GST for adults and $22.50 plus GST for children 3-17, the Ready Pass does not require you to choose your attractions in advance.

Explore, Enjoy

For 2013, the Castrol Raceway is a new member of the Edmonton Attractions Pass program. Located minutes from South Edmonton, this premiere racing spot holds a variety of adrenaline fuelled events ranging from Sprint Cars to Top Fuel Dragsters.

"The pass is perfect for families coming to Edmonton," adds David Makowsky of the Edmonton Attractions Consortia. "The neat thing is that we have attractions in Edmonton but there are also attractions at each corner as they enter or leave the city. For example, if they're coming from or going to Saskatchewan they can go to the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village; if a family is travelling to or coming from Fort McMurray, the Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm is right there and the Edmonton Attractions Pass is the best way to see these amazing places."

Edmonton Tourism promotes Greater Edmonton as the destination of choice for tourism, conventions, major events and film production and is a division of Edmonton Economic Development Corporation (EEDC). Edmonton Tourism encourages socially and environmentally responsible tourism. For more information, visit www.edmonton.com Learn more about Edmonton through the stories of people who've experienced it at www.edmontonstories.ca.