Six-year-olds Vanessa Jenkins, front, and Sophie Hunchak watch the Calgary Stampede parade in 2008. Stampede organizers hope numbers will stay strong for this year's 10-day event, which begins Friday. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

What's billed as the greatest outdoor show on earth will fly out of the chutes Friday, and Calgary Stampede officials hope to hold on tight and ride out the recessionary bucking bronco that has tossed much of Canada's tourism industry into the dirt.

The 10-day celebration of the cowboy way of life has attracted roughly 1.2 million visitors in each of the last few years. About 350,000 people typically turn out for the annual Calgary Stampede parade, slated for Friday.

"It's either maintain business as usual or ramp it up another notch. I have a saying as a veterinarian that if you're riding a horse in a mudhole, you'd better not say, 'whoa,' " quipped David Chalack, chairman of the Calgary Stampede's board of directors.

The Stampede expects to draw visitors from every Canadian province and nearly 30 countries. The good news during the tough economic times is that about 70 per cent of its visitors are from Canada, and the number of tourists from the United States is actually expected to edge up this year.

In the past, finding a hotel room during Calgary's premier event was next to impossible and prices were sky high. This year, it's a different story.

"I'm hearing… that the rates are pretty reasonable and there's rooms to rent," said Dave Kaiser, CEO of the Alberta Hotel and Lodging Association. "Usually it's been pretty tough, but we're in different times — there are not as many international tourists coming in, tour groups are smaller and operators are pressing for deeper discounts."

12 per cent dip in visitors predicted

Alberta's hotel sector tends to mirror problems in the economy, and with a downturn in the energy and forestry sectors, things are bad all over, Kaiser said.

Hotel revenues dropped by 10 per cent for the first quarter of this year, and resorts such as Banff and Jasper are suffering from a 20 per cent drop.

So many people are staying away — particularly those from other countries — that Travel Alberta is predicting a decline of 11.6 per cent in tourist numbers for the Stampede.

However, Don Boynton, a spokesman for Travel Alberta, said Alberta is better positioned to hold its own than other tourism destinations in Canada, especially when it comes to attracting visitors from the U.S.

Tourists spent $5.6 billion in Alberta in 2007, and more than half of that money came from Albertans themselves.