The mayor of Sun Peaks says the village will have a chance to market more to B.C. residents this winter.

Al Raine says everyone in tourism is an eternal optimist, but he says the village isn’t expecting internationals will flock to Sun Peaks this ski season.

“Even if the borders open, think about it, all the people who got trapped in countries, couldn’t get back home, people who were trapped on cruise ships and those kinds of things. You think any of those people are going to book next year, even if the governments say it’s okay to travel, and borders are open? I would say very few, only the biggest risk takers.”

But, Raine says he expects people who typically go away in the winter will instead be close to home, and he says there will be opportunities to bring those people to the village.

“There are a lot of British Columbians who would go to Hawaii and Arizona, sun places, that are probably going to stay pretty close to home this coming winter. So that’s a market for us, it’s an opportunity. It’s not all doom and gloom.”

Meantime, Raine says spring and summer tourism are driven by international tour busses, and he says that amenity is expected to be a complete loss this year.