Image Credit: Kent Simmonds

By Dylana Kneeshaw

CANADIAN TOURISM

Canadian tour bookings climbing higher, alongside growing interest in Wells Gray Park

Feb 21, 2025 | 4:58 PM

NORTH THOMPSON — Wells Gray Tours is one of the largest tour operators in Western Canada, and owner Roland Neave has noticed a trend when it comes to where people want to go.

“The last few weeks there have certainly been a lot more Canadian bookings than other destinations,” he says.

The ongoing trade dispute between Canada and the U.S. is influencing travel plans, with Canada becoming a more popular choice. Wells Gray takes 2,500 people travelling every year, on average, through 65 tours. Only 11 of those trip options go to the U.S.A., while the rest are in Canada and international destinations.

“The vast majority of our customers are living in British Columbia. We’re what’s called an outbound tour company. Most tour companies are inbound so they’re looking after people from Europe and Asia and showing them the Canadian Rockies. We do the opposite. We’re taking people from B.C. or around B.C. and showing them all the places in many other places around the world,” explains Neave. “We go to all seven continents. In fact, we have a tour coming back tomorrow from Antarctica.”

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For the North Thompson area, the domestic visit interest comes with recent provincial legislation which will officially add 33 hectares of land to Wells Gray Provincial Park near Clearwater. The District’s mayor, Merlin Blackwell, says that’s positive news for the park.

“There’s been people working on that for years and years,” notes Blackwell, “But specifically to new tourism coming to Wells Gray Park, I think that Canada once again will be seen as a safe space. We saw that pre-COVID with some of the terrorism that was going on in Europe. We saw an increase there.”

Granted, Blackwell says Clearwater’s RV visitation is dependent on the recovery state of Jasper’s tourism sector after wildfire damage. But any bump in interest to regional vacations would translate to a noticeable economic benefit.

“When I was running Wells Gray Park, I think we saw about 425,000 visitors per year to the area. That’s, I believe, about $35 million to $40 million annually. A lot of these visitors are from Europe. They have a lot of money to spend and they’re here to do experiences like whitewater rafting or overnight stays,” explains Blackwell.

There’s early indication of a strong summer season as bookings start to fill up for Canadian trips. For those who have booked a trip to the U.S. with Wells Gray Tours, Neave points out that his company is Canadian.

“Even if you have a tour booked to the USA, you are buying it from us, and you’re supporting… well, we have 32 employees who are supported by you buying a tour from us even though we may be taking you to the U.S.A.” adds Neave.