B.C. tourism businesses feeling affects of wildfires, reporting cancellations
KAMLOOPS, B.C. — Tourism officials are starting to assess the impact of devastating wildfires in British Columbia and have received mixed feedback on the toll so far on the travel sector.
Maya Lange of Destination BC, the province’s tourism planning and marketing corporation, said businesses outside the fire zone have complained of cancellations.
“Unfortunately some of our regions and communities that may be hundreds of kilometres away from the impacted areas have reported cancellations from folks across Canada, the U.S. and overseas because the information they are receiving leads them to believe that B.C. is burning,” Lange said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday.
Most evidence of a slow down in tourism has been anecdotal and Lange said data reflecting the financial implications won’t be ready for another two to three months.