Winter is not even over and already there are indications that 2017 is going to be another banner year for tourism in Penticton.
“Everyone is expecting August to be one of the biggest months in history,” said Don Kendall, president of the Peach Festival Society.
Kendall has heard there are already problems finding rooms to book in August, with a series of events creating demand for accommodation, accommodators experiencing demand, starting with the long weekend, followed by Peachfest from Aug. 9 to 13, and then the ITU world championships from Aug. 18 to 27.
“Peachfest needs a lot of rooms,” said Kendall, noting that they have marching bands and floats coming for the parade, along with other performers for the 70th annual festival.
“I expect it to be the biggest ever,” said Kendall, adding the schedule and attractions are still being rolled out to the public. “We have a lot of special events to planned.”
David Prystay, general manager of the Lakeside Resort, agrees summer is going to be busy in Penticton, especially with the addition of the ITU and moving Challenge Penticton to July.
“Both of those are great adds for the city,” he said.
Thom Tisch, executive director Travel Penticton, said the existing events and the new ones are drawing visitors to the region.
“With the events coming in, that’s great news. Sometimes puts a bit of a strain on available accommodation resources,” he said. “I think it bodes well for us.”
Prystay said the resort’s new 70-room addition, now nearing completion, is already fully booked as of June 22.
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Tisch said he also heard from larger accommodators in the area that are seeing strong bookings for the summer, and he’s hoping to hear the same from medium to smaller accommodators.
“We do have a meeting coming up shortly and I well be able to meet with more of them and get an idea of how their bookings are looking,” said Tisch. “As far as I can see, things are looking fairly strong for the upcoming year,”
Meanwhile, Travel Penticton is looking to find a new home for the Penticton Visitor Centre.
“It is a work in progress but we are seriously working on that in collaboration with Travel Penticton and some resources to help us out logistically from the city,” said Tisch. “We are in a year of transition with the amalgamation of the PHA and Tourism Penticton into one agency.
“We want to make sure we are starting to build our brand and build on the brand we have with Undiscovered Penticton.”
Tisch recently returned from the B.C. Tourism Industry Conference, held in Victoria Feb. 22 to 24. Like Penticton, the tourism industry had a strong year throughout the province, and celebrating that success was a big part of the event.
“in most regions of the province, tourism has set new records for revenues, visitation and outer key measures three years running,” said Jim Humphrey, chair of the Tourism Industry Association of B.C. “British Columbia’s visitor economy stands on its own as one of the province’s leading business sectors. At some $15-plus billion in revenue, we know that B.C. tourism matters.”
Tisch said one of the key announcements at the meeting was stable funding for Destination B.C., which is now guaranteed their $50 million funding base from the province, with potential increases tied to both DBC performance and the success of the tourism sector.
Stable funding at that level is a good thing, but Tisch said he isn’t sure how that might change funding models for communities partnering with DBC, like Penticton.
“We have some areas we want to maintain or don’t lose too much in the way of funding,” he said, noting that DBC funding supports the visitor centre.
“The amount they give us significantly goes towards the operations. We want to at least maintain that amount in the coming years, but we also recognize that visitor services are going more digital for handheld devices.”
Tisch said the new DBC funding formula shows the province recognizes the importance of tourism.
“It’s not only tourism, the fun part of the equation, but it’s also a significant economic benefit and a job creator,” said Tisch.
The province is also encouraging more collaboration between communities.
“In the past, it used to be directly in alignment with DBC or the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association. Now, we can apply directly, but it has to be in conjunction with two other communities,” said Tisch. “It has some challenges. You have to placate three parties, as opposed to just pleasing yourself.
“That is where you have to be more creative and work together, and have that collaboration and alignment between all of the agencies.“
Overall, B.C. saw annual international visitor increases from a number of countries last year. The U.S. visitor count was up by 10.9 percent, and visitors from Mexico rose by 33.4 per cent. Other significant increases include visitors from China (up 18.2 per cent), Australia (21.1) and the United Kingdom (17.3 per cent).