Sun Peaks Resort is preparing for a Family Day weekend unlike any other this year.
With recommendations for people not to travel because of the pandemic, out-of-province travellers who usually flock to the resort are not expected to show up.
But the resort’s chief marketing officer Aidan Kelly says even in normal times, before the COVID-19 pandemic started 11 months ago, this weekend is still popular for Kamloops area residents.
“So we’re expecting it to be steady up there, but it won’t be anything like previous years that’s for sure.”
Kelly says business at Sun Peaks and other ski resorts was hurt when B.C. moved Family Day by a week in 2019 to coincide with other provinces.
Prior to that move, he says ski hills used to see two-straight jam-packed weekends.
“We do a lot of American business at Sun Peaks obviously when borders are open. And having Family Day on the same weekend as President’s Day puts two busy weekends together and sort of mashes them up, and makes them just as busy, if not busier, than Christmas,” he says, while explaining having that actually has lead to less traffic instead of having out-of-town travellers come over separate weekends.
Sun Peaks Mayor Al Raine previously told NL News his resort community has been able to avoid a large COVID-19 outbreak to the scale of Whistler or Big White because of ‘good luck and good management’.
Ahead of opening day in November, Raine said that all of the provincial health orders would be enforced and he’s urging people to keep up with the measures so Sun Peaks can stay open.
Speaking on NL Newsday, Raine says it still safe for people to come to the resort community as long as they follow COVID-19 safety protocols.
“Certainly the RCMP, in our busy periods, they’ve been up and about and our bylaw people are watching for any kind of large gatherings. But you know, generally people are behaving. I think people have got the message.”
While cases province-wide have been trending down, Raine worries rules might be tightened if the rate of spread isn’t brought under control soon.
“If we get variants of the COVID in our communities, then we’ll be tightening up the regulations,” he says. “There’s a lot of work to be done yet.”
– with files from Victor Kaisar
