Photo: Zoom
Big White’s Michael J. Ballingall says the Okanagan needs to work together to kickstart tourism.
One of the Okanagan’s biggest promoters will be watching Dr. Bonnie Henry’s press conference quite keenly for the rest of the week.
Big White Ski Resort senior vice-president Michael J. Ballingall said during a Kelowna Chamber of Commerce webinar on Tuesday that he expects the provincial health officer to initiate the next phase of B.C.’s COVID-19 comeback soon, and he wants local tourism stakeholders to be ready for it.
“Prepared is 48 hours from now,” Ballingall said. “My bet is before the weekend Doctor Bonnie’s going to go to phase three. The borders are going to open, and the cars are going to fill up with gas, and they’re going to come here.
“So let’s be prepared for it. Let’s motivate each other for it.”
Ballingall joined Destination BC president and CEO Marsha Walden and Tourism Kelowna’s business and destination development director Jennifer Horsnell as the keynote speakers during Tuesday’s webinar to discuss how Okanagan tourism is going to bounce back from the debilitating pandemic that has already claimed some businesses and will continue to do so until life returns to normal.
B.C.’s tourism workforce has gone from 166,000 to 44,000, revenue projections have plummeted to $6.7 billion from $22 billion last year, and the number of travellers to B.C., which was 2.5 million in 2019, is expected to be cut in half this year.
Closer to home, Horsnell noted that visits to Kelowna in May were down 43.6% compared to last year, Kelowna International Airport passengers in May were down 96% from last May, and hotel occupancy in April slumped 81.6% from last year.
In other words, there’s nowhere to go but up. The initial tourism boost will have to come from British Columbians who are eager to explore their own province and, if Ballingall is correct, Albertans who will be encouraged to come on over.
“The Albertans will be here,” Ballingall said. “They will buy cases and cases of our wine, and take them back so they can hibernate for six months every year.”
None of the speakers on Tuesday expects international travel to resume in 2020.
“The goal here is really to build that overnight visitation,” Horsnell said. “We know it’s not going to happen immediately.”
Tourism Kelowna earlier this month conducted a survey of city residents, asking them how comfortable they were with tourists coming to their city. It found that 79% are good with regional visitors, 69% are comfortable welcoming British Columbians and 53% would have no problem with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba residents coming to the town.
The survey also found Kelowna residents were slightly more willing to accept international travellers than Americans, although only about 20% would be comfortable welcoming either group.
Walden encouraged B.C.’s tourism businesses to do everything and anything they can to kickstart the industry.
“The information that you provide visitors right now is more important than ever, and it’s certainly central to travellers’ decision making about their journey,” she said. “So please take a few minutes today to update your business listing on TripAdvisor, in your Google My Business and on HelloBC.com.”
Ballingall said while the Okanagan is always going to be an attractive destination, he told everyone in the webinar to go take an attractive outdoor picture and post it to their social media accounts to generate as much buzz as possible.
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