Slight rebound in Kamloops visitors starting to show in flight, hotel numbers

April and May both saw 98 per cent decreases, followed by a slight improvement for June, which came out at a 95 per cent drop from 2019 data.

“Those numbers are way down this summer and, with the borders still closed for non-essential travel, we’ll see the definite decreases as long as those continue.”

Ratuski says the airport was expecting to have passenger numbers decrease as a result of pandemic travel restrictions. But now that Phase Three of the B.C Restart is underway, a gradual increase is anticipated.

“Air Canada reintroduced service to Kamloops — the Kamloops to Vancouver route — on June 15. And then WestJet is increasing their Calgary service to daily. And Central Mountain Air to Prince George reintroduced last week to three days a week.”

Many new safety protocols have been enacted for airports in Canada and Ratuski says passengers have been largely cooperative with wearing masks in the terminal and while they’re aboard aircrafts.

While passenger numbers are still far below normal, hotel bookings in Kamloops have begun to climb higher. Tyson Andrykew, the vice president of sales and operations for Mundi Hotel Enterprises, says this is largely driven by regional visitors.

“People from communities that are a couple hours away — whether it’s Revelstoke or Prince George, or Kelowna, that sort of thing. I think British Columbians are getting out there and travelling. And obviously a lot of people from Alberta are travelling, also. We’re just seeing a lot more of that regional drive through traffic.”

Andrykew says April and May saw hotel occupancy rates in local area between 10 and 20 per cent, and June rose to about 33 per cent occupancy.

“The problem is that (at) 33 per cent occupancy, most hotels are still not really making money,” he explains. “The government has got some subsidies and programs out there that have been widely reported that are certainly helping, but it’s still a challenge. But we’re optimistic that we’re going to continue to see that improvement throughout the summer, and into the fall.”

After Phase Three was announced, Andrykew notes many hoteliers saw an uptick in booking interest from people trying to travel within B.C.

“A lot of hotels are saying the second a phase is announced or something changes, something opens up, they’re saying, ‘Oh yeah, we’re getting like ten bookings right away.'” says Andrykew. “So people are paying attention.”

Now, in the traditional summer vacation season, industries that depend on travellers are hopeful modest improvements will continue into the fall.

by Dylana Kneeshaw

Slight rebound in Kamloops visitors starting to show in flight, hotel numbers

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