The tourism industry is still rebounding from the pandemic and there’s optimism 2023 will see more growth.

Tourism Kamloops CEO Monica Dickenson was on the NL Morning News and said the industry typically goes through peaks and valleys according to the calendar.

She says the upcoming Scotties curling tournament and the Memorial Cup should help those slower times of year.

“Events like that are so important to our community and most importantly they make big impacts in what we call our off-season. So, off-season for us now is pretty much November through April and so when we have major national or international events happening at that time we see our valleys turn into peaks very quickly when it comes to occupancy rates and revenue.”

Dickenson explains those types of big events crucial for tourism because they come during the off season, unlike a big event we saw in summer 2022.

“You know, we even reflect back to this last summer and having the Canada 55-Plus Games in August. While that was great as part of that recovery, that’s what’s sustainable in peak season is having that big of an event happening when there’s also precious leisure travel happening naturally in that time and we’re welcoming Rocky Mountaineer to the community from May to October.”

It’ll take a collective effort with Tourism Kamloops, the City and various stake holders, according to Dickenson, to find what she calls that sweet spot to help level those valleys and have a tourism economy that is sustainable year round.