FILE PHOTO - The village at Big White Ski Resort is pictured in this submitted photo.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Big White Ski Resort

Tourism is one industry in the Thompson and Okanagan regions that stands to benefit from the drop in the loonie’s value. 

The Canadian dollar is sitting around 70 cents American, four cents lower than it was a year ago and among the lowest values in decades. While that's going to make for many different winners and losers in the Canadian economy, the local tourism industry is poised to take full advantage.

Sam Samaddar, CEO for Kelowna International Airport, said YLW has already seen a huge increase in travellers, particularly over the holidays.

“We probably, most likely, have set a new record for the busiest month ever in the history of the airport,” he said. “Air access is critical in that when you're opening up new routes that allows for a greater economic development.”

The airport has added tons of new routes over the past few years to increase accessibility, particularly for Americans, and Samaddar said WestJet is planning an announcement for daily service to Seattle this Friday.

Jenna Labossiere with the Thompson-Okanagan Tourism Association said local businesses are benefiting from more flights and more American visitors.

READ MORE: Kelowna airport spending $422M to catch up and keep up with air travel demand

“If they can get a 44 cent discount, then that's awesome. We want to take advantage of that and welcome them to the region,” she said. “Especially since COVID, everybody's worked so hard to be able to offer winter, spring, summer, and fall activities.”

Air travel is a big component to tourism in the Okanagan, but Labossiere said the association has been advertising to Americans about road tripping through the Rockies. She said capitalizing on tourism opportunities can ease some of the tension people are feeling about the economy.

“We have worked hard to sort of bring awareness to the road trip itineraries along with the air access that's available to U.S. and also Canadian visitors,” she said. “For Canadians, it's a stressful time with the economy being how it is. The more visitors that we can get here shopping locally, investing in local communities and businesses, the better for us.”

Big White Ski Resort saw 52 per cent more American visitors over the holidays.

READ MORE: Plummeting loonie means more Americans hitting slopes in Thompson-Okanagan

“Everything that goes along with tourism and the economy is doing really well in the mountains because we have snow. This could be a totally different picture if we didn't have snow,” Big White Ski Resort senior vice president Michael J. Ballingall said last week. “We've been through this cycle before in the 80s and the early 90s. The Okanagan now has a lot more to offer. Our brand is known better. Canada is still a great place to come and visit.”

Eva Weston from the Regional District of Central Okanagan’s Economic Development Commission said this is an example of why it’s important for a region to have a diverse economy.

“We're very lucky in a way that we have such a diverse economy we're not reliant on one specific sector over the other,” she said. “It can obviously pose challenges for import-dependent industries and increase costs and make it really hard to plan but it also makes our region more attractive for cross-border investment as well as tourism.”

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