FLOOD WATCH 2017: Potential Kelowna tourists put off by flooding concerns | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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FLOOD WATCH 2017: Potential Kelowna tourists put off by flooding concerns

Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK

KELOWNA – The national and provincial media coverage of the Okanagan flooding may be playing a role in a slow down in the number of people booking accomodations in Kelowna next month.

Tourism Kelowna CEO Nancy Cameron says so far hotels and motels are “not reporting a large number of cancellations” but bookings for June have “slowed.”

“We’re still trying to get a handle on it,” Cameron says. “Fortunately the drivers right now are not family summer vacations. Right now the drivers… are things like wine touring and adventure activities, hiking, mountain biking, golfing, the cool urban vibe. That has helped.”

As summer approaches however, the demographics shift, and that has Kelowna Tourism concerned. The visitor centre, Camerson says, is fielding five to 10 calls a day asking if people can get around in Kelowna.

“When people hear about issues like this they think the whole city is flooded," she says. "We have to assure them the flooding is localized to stream areas and the foreshore.”

Cameron can’t specify exactly how much bookings for June are down, but says Tourism Kelowna is planning a series of social and traditional media campaigns aimed at reminding potential tourists that Kelowna is still a great place to visit.

“Those people who are looking to plan their summer vacation and saying ‘let’s go to Kelowna,’ we want to make sure they’re still considering that. The water will go down. Water-based activities are being impacted but for most of our visitors, the flood is not impacting them.”

Emergency Operations predicts high lake levels across the Central Okanagan going into June.


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