Tourism boosts numbers at the Kamloops Airport

Mar 10, 2016 | 10:53 AM

KAMLOOPS — When it comes to air travel, an increase in tourism has more than made up for the downturn in the oil and gas sector.

Kamloops Airport Manager Fred Legace says passenger traffic was up nine per cent last month, compared to February of 2015. Legace says it chiefly due to people wanting to play in the snow.

“These numbers have truly hidden that drop off in the oil and gas sector, and the amount of travel that people did, for accessing into Northern Alberta,” said Legace. “If you look at it, the 9 per cent increase over last year is also taking into account that fall-off, so these are pretty dramatic numbers that we are seeing come up,” said Legace.

Legace notes the low dollar is keeping Canadians close to home, and attracting Americans to spend their money north of the border.