Businesses hoping to bounce back from smoke
A sunny Labour Day long weekend won’t make up for a smoky August that scared off tourists.
But, at this point, Luke Weller is taking what he can get.
Weller is the owner and operator of Ogopogo Parasail and Kelowna Jetboat, both of which saw business plummet 70 per cent in August as smoke from forest fires obscured the sun, tourists stayed away and people remained indoors.
“When you’re in the tourism business, especially the seasonal tourism business, you’ll always be at the mercy of the weather, and smoke in particular is a killer,” he said.
“Nobody wanted to go (parasailing) 600 feet up in the air in the smoke. The whole point of the activity is to enjoy the sun and the view and the fun.”
With a long-weekend forecast of no smoke and three partly sunny days with temperatures in the low 20s, Weller is feeling optimistic.
“With the clear skies, I’m expecting a lot of people out looking to squeeze some fun in before the end of summer,” said Weller. “We need it.” Weller also owns TouchTourism.ca, which has touch-screen monitors in 30 locations, including many hotels, the West Kelowna tourism information centre, the Rotary Centre for the Arts and the Kelowna Art Gallery.
“The No. 1 category searched in August was indoor fun for kids,” said Weller.
Meantime, Scandia Golf & Games does well regardless of smoke and weather.
“Short term, the smoke helped us,” said manager Sebastian Ribbink.
“Our new indoor minigolf and arcade games were really popular with people that wanted to get out of it. And when the weather is nice, we have outdoor minigolf, go-karts and batting cages.”
Ribbink’s long-term concern is tourists may start avoiding Kelowna in August after the month was a tourism writeoff the past three years because of forest fires and smoke.
“I’m thrilled this is going to be a good weekend,” said Tourism Kelowna CEO Lisanne Ballantyne.
“During the worst of the smoke, attractions, especially watersports, were hardest hit. It was heartbreaking. Hopefully, they will see a strong Labour Day long weekend,” she said.
Despite smoke in the summer of 2017, hotel occupancy was still strong in Kelowna at 83 per cent full in July and 86 per cent in August.
The real test will be what comparable numbers are for this summer.
Those figures should be released soon, according to Ballantyne.
Meanwhile, early indications are they will probably fall short of 2017 benchmarks.
Tourism Kelowna surveys of hotels, campgrounds and bed and breakfasts found 75 per cent were getting cancellations during the worst smoke in August and 58 per cent were seeing guests shorten their stays.
“We’re now shooting for rebound,” said Ballantyne.
“We also need to diversify and evolve more so we aren’t so summer and weather dependent. It’s already starting with golf, wine and culinary and ski and other winter outdoor activities. And October will be strong with the BreakOut West Music Festival and Western Canadian Music Awards and the World Mixed Curling Championships.”