TOTA Executive Director Ellen Walker-Matthews (Supplied: Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, Facebook)
It sounds like the province might help pick up some of the financial hardship tourism sectors in the Interior are facing, following the four-day ban on non-essential accommodation stays in fire-affected communities.
Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association Executive Director Ellen Walker-Matthews says conversations are underway with the province right now, to find funds to flow into the businesses and to encourage tourists to return to the region.
“We have certainly heard from the province that they are going to be doing that, or looking at that, and we are going to help work out how that looks, how do we roll it out, what is the way of putting funds into stakeholders hands; certainly that is a conversation that is going on as we speak.”
While details about where that funding will come from and how much money the province will hand out, Walker-Matthews says the goal is to give some financial relief to businesses impacted.
“Let’s deal with one thing at a time; the travel ban was the first thing we were trying to work on how that looked and what the possibilities were.” she said.
“now we are at that next place — it is two-pronged — finding funds to flow into the businesses to help them and also finding funds to encourage people to come back.”
Walker-Matthews comments come as she says it is not just four days of lost revenue, noting it’ll have a trickle-down effect on tourism and hotel revenue well into September.
“People have now changed plans, made other plans, gone other places, made cancellations… We hope some will come back, but a big event, Iron Man was canceled, over in Kamloops the train wasn’t coming in for a few days, so there are big events that stopped and some that cannot be re-ignited.”
She says they will have to work “really hard” to get tourism levels back up for the fall.
The travel restrictions issued Saturday, were lifted by the province at midnight on August 23, including in Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon, and Kamloops; however, it remains in effect in West Kelowna for the time being.
