The mayor of Kamloops is saying no thanks to the idea of tacking on convention space to the proposed downtown Performing Arts Centre.

Ken Christian says the idea proposed by Tourism Kamloops CEO Beverley DeSantis doesn’t work with what is on the drawing board.

“I spoke with Bev DeSantis about this matter and I don’t think the city has a role to play in building convention centres. If you look at the example of Penticton it is a big drain on there revenue down there and it costs the taxpayers an awful lot of money to run it.”

Christian says the private sector is best suited to building and having convention centre space.

He says the idea of trying to attract major conventions with thousands of delegates doesn’t work for a city our size.

“We have to get away from this notion that we are looking for 5,000 delegate conventions. Those are going to go to the large cities. What we need is five small conventions in Kamloops in Kamloops. Those can be equally lucrative for our hospitality and tourism industries here. They are also much easier to accommodate within the existing infrastructure that we have to provide.”

Christian says places like the Coast Hotel with existing convention centre space are where conventions in the city need to be.