File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

READY TO PIVOT

Wildfires and other climate events demand extra flexibility from Kamloops tourism and event operators

Feb 21, 2024 | 5:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — Wildfire smoke, heatwaves and other weather events have become an expected part of summertime in B.C. For the Kamloops area, this means tourism and events operators have to become even more flexible in order to work around sometimes uncooperative conditions.

Typically, July and August are peak tourism season months for the Kamloops area. But in recent years, Tourism Kamloops CEO Monica Dickinson says the industry has been planning for the reality of climate events changing normal visitor patterns

“Our planning has really started shifting outside of those months and those periods for the last few years,” she explains, “and the reason we did that was in order to disperse visitation in more opportune times.”

To support that strategy of spreading out visits to different points of the year, Tourism Kamloops says it will be rolling out another round of its Destination Event Fund grants, which are meant to support the creation of new events in the city.

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“We’re looking for event producers that are interested in doing something interesting in Kamloops to create a new vibe in a new timeframe,” said Dickinson.

The Tournament Capital hosts plenty of crowds for athletic competitions, and arts and culture-related events throughout the year. But even with best laid plans, events may have to pivot and move indoors or change dates or times.

Janvi Desai, the city’s Community Events Coordinator, says wildfire smoke and heatwaves have been added to the mental list of ‘what if’ scenarios that any basic event planner must consider.

“Every event is different, I guess. But we are flexible in adjusting and accommodating these kind of requests,” said Desai.

Some event organizers have opted to entirely change the time of year or location where they will be hosting from, while others wait until it’s closer to the day to decide.

“If they forsee that, ‘Okay, there is this wildfire that just started,’ and they’re not getting many applications, they do let us know in advance that, ‘We may cancel this event,’ or ‘We may move it to another date.'” explains Desai.

According to Tourism Kamloops, the natural landscape and outdoor recreation options are a huge advantage, as those activities are less reliant on specific dates for people to come out.

“When we look at key drivers from a tourism perspective, golf is a big one, mountain biking is a big one, and really the opportune time to do those things happens to be in what we call the shoulder season,” adds Dickinson. “(They take place) in spring or in fall, which automatically alleviates that pressure on summer, typically.”

Desai says the other helpful part of the equation is the people who come visit or take part in events have also developed flexible expectations.

“Last year, I remember at one of the events, even during it there was smoke and people were still outside. You can’t stop that,” she says. “People will always get attracted to entertainment.”