A large uptick in visitors and visitor expenditures last year in Saskatchewan indicate the province's tourism industry is blooming.

Numbers released by Stats Canada yesterday stated visits to and within the province by Canadians last year increased by 9.4 per cent from 2016.

Gail Kesslar, the executive director of Cypress Hills Destination Area, said although the park is very close to maximum capacity for campers and visitors throughout the summertime, they've still witnessed a slight increase.

"Because we do have a number of other nearby accommodations, specifically in Maple Creek, we've seen an uptake in those accommodations," she said. "We've also seen the amount of dollars spent in the area increase. Instead of just sitting at their campsites, people are actually going out and doing things."

Kesslar believes the spike in numbers can be attributed to Tourism Saskatchewan's effort in raising their profile and the way they've been able to promote the tourism product.

"I think when you see tourism numbers go up it's not just even about the visitors it's about the profile of tourism going up in the province and the types of new businesses and new entrepreneurs that brings with it," she said.

Visitor expenditures jumped 10.4 per cent from the previous year as Canadian visitors combine to spent $1.88 billion in 2017.

Kesslar added that the increased amount of money being spent in the tourism sector allows for new products to start popping up that haven't been there before.

"As soon as you start to see entrepreneurs offering products like this, then people are more excited to come to the province and realize there are lots of things to do," she said. "It attracts visitors and entrepreneurs at the same time."