Economic hangover

The Okanagan’s wine industry is still suffering an economic hangover from the effects of the pandemic, a new survey says.

While travel restrictions and health orders have been lifted, winery owners say out-ofprovince visitors have been slow to return.

“In our wine shop, we have observed a noticeable lack of outof-province guests,” said Erin Korpisto, general manager of Stag’s Hollow Winery in Okanagan Falls in a Wednesday release. “We had expected U.S. and Albertan tourists to return, which just hasn’t happened.”

The onset of the pandemic was devastating for the wine industry, as for most other sectors of the economy, according to a study commissioned by Wine Growers British Columbia.

Wine-related tourist numbers plunged from 1.2 million in 2019 to just 254,000 in 2020.

Employment in B.C.’s wine industry fell from almost 4,000 people to just over 1,800.

As well, total tourism-related wages in the wine industry fell from $174 million to $84 million.

The economic study was undertaken for the association by Economic Forensics and Analytics, a California-based company.

Study results suggest the wine industry needs more support from the government, according to Miles Prodan, president of Wine Growers British Columbia.

“These findings show that for the B.C. wine economy to re-capture the momentum and potential of its pre-pandemic growth, especially as it relates to tourism, strategic collaboration between government and industry will be required,” Prodan said.

Before the onset of the pandemic, economic growth in the wine industry had been considerable, with its total contribution to the provincial economy rising 87% between 2011 and 2019, to $3.75 billion.