
Clockwise from top left - The Sea-to-Sky Gondola in Squamish, the Malahat SkyWalk near Victoria, and the Golden Skybridge.
Tourism Kamloops is going regional in its search for a location for an iconic structure in the Kamloops-area.
Manager of Destination Development Nic Zdunich asked the Thompson-Nicola Regional District for support Thursday, noting Tourism Kamloops is hoping to find a piece of land with enough space for parking and washrooms that is within 70 kilometres from the Kamloops city centre.
“Something visible or close proximity to a highway and of course it needs to have amazing landscape or views – a sight of a mountain, a canyon, a waterfall, because the land dictates what the iconic structure is,” Zdunich said Thursday.
“The cart can’t really be in front of the horse and a lot of these attractions aren’t usually within city limits. We are working with the City and Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc to identify potential suitable lands, but we also want to expand the scope to the TNRD region as well.”
Zdunich told the Board that the plan is to bring some developers to the Kamloops area this summer, in the hopes of convincing them to build this still to be determined iconic structure.
“We’re working with the Thompson-Nicola Film Commission to put together a lookbook and then we’ll give that to developers and invite them out there and show them some suitable land,” Zdunich said.
“We’re going to put a study together, so a market and location analysis for the region talking about our visitors, talking about the locals to make sure that we have the numbers to make this a viable product. And then of course, we want to get it all turn-key ready so we can start going after grant cycles to push the project forward.”
Zdunich said the roughly 1.9-million tourists who came through the Kamloops-area in 2022, resulted in an estimated $522 million in economic impacts. He said Tourism Kamloops wants to use this iconic structure to attract more tourists to come and spend their money in the area.
“You see a lot of talks about gondolas going up in Vernon and new skywalks and new suspension bridges, so we really want to get some of these projects and get some momentum and find suitable land that we can pitch to developers to build these iconic structures,” he said.
Tourism Kamloops is applying for grant money from the Economic Trust of the Southern Interior (ESTI-BC), to help facilitate a comprehensive feasibility study for this iconic structure.
“The feasibility study would consider existing plans, community consultation, and ongoing operational requirements of whatever proposal potentially emerges,” Tourism Kamloops’ Director of Destination Development Lisa Strachan said, in a February letter to Kamloops City Council.
In that letter, Tourism Kamloops listed the Sea-to-Sky Gondola in Squamish, the Malahat SkyWalk near Victoria, and the Golden Skybridge as examples of iconic structures.
“The acquisition of an iconic structure in Kamloops stands to enhance the city’s competitiveness in comparison to emerging attractions in areas like Vernon and Revelstoke,” Strachan said.
“By aligning with Destination BC’s Rainforest to Rockies promoted ‘iconic’ route, Kamloops could attract external investments, thereby benefiting both residents and tourists alike.”