Travel Alberta. Live with Kelly Ripa to be broadcast from Banff

Photo courtesy of Banff Lake Louise Tourism

Next month, TV host Kelly Ripa will come to Alberta's Banff National Park to film four episodes of her popular Live! with Kelly talk show.

While Ripa says she's excited to visit Alberta's spectacular Rocky Mountain resort getaway, a place where she and husband Mark Consuelos will enjoy a "second honeymoon," it's easy to imagine that the $1.5 million Travel Alberta ponied up to seal the deal didn't hurt either.

As CTV reports, the government's tourism outfit said the publicity generated from Ripa's audience of 3.6 million should pay for the investment in spades.

"It's broadcast in the United States, which is Alberta's most important marketplace. We get about 810,000 visitors every year from the U.S., they spend over $560 million each year, so this is an absolute perfect opportunity for us to showcase Alberta," Travel Alberta CEO Bruce Okabe told the Canadian Press.