Tourism continues to grow in the Clearwater-Wells Gray Park area, according to Brad Bradbury, tourism marketing manager with Tourism Wells Gray.
Speaking after TWG’s annual general meeting on April 15, Bradbury said that 2014 was a very productive year for most tourism operators within the community. Accommodation occupancy and spending surpassed 2013 levels by some margin.
“Visitor numbers through the visitors information centre are also trending upwards for the third consecutive year, as are coach and tour numbers,” he reported. “Camping and day visitation stats also show a steady increase over 2012 and 2013.”
Sports tourism continues to be a growth sector for the community, with 16 tournaments held that generated over $275,000 of additional revenue.
Bradbury said that TWG continues to maximize its funding opportunities through the hotel tax and partnership revenue such as Community Tourism Opportunity Fund and Destination BC.
“We partnered with four other North Thompson communities (Sun Peaks, Barriere, Valemount and Blue River) to develop a North Thompson Valley website and collateral material that promotes the entire valley as a destination in its own right and not just as part of a road trip,” he said.
Bradbury added that Tourism Wells Gray continues to develop marketing partnerships with regional provincial and national organizations. These include Canadian Sports Tourism Alliance, Canadian Tourism Commission, Destination BC, Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, Tourism Alberta, Tourism Oregon, and Tourism Saskatchewan.
Some statistics:
2013 – Visitor Numbers, 76,542
2014 – Visitor Numbers, 84,254
Increase of 7,712 or 9.15 per cent
2013 – Party Numbers, 25,802
2014 – Party Numbers, 27,677
Increase of 1,875 or 7.2 per cent
2013 – Bus Numbers, 335
2014– Bus Numbers, 395
Increase of 60 Buses or 18 per cent
The marketing direction for 2015 – 2016 will be to concentrate on short lead time vacations, using specials and promotions, Bradbury said.
Focus will be on western Canadian and northwestern USA markets.
They also will target shoulder business in Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Calgary, Okanagan, the Lower Mainland, Oregon, and western Washington.
Secondary marketing will be done in European and Asian Markets when cooperative opportunities arise.
Partnerships will continue with the North Thompson Valley initiative through to Mc Bride, for hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing and so on.
A main market focus will be on professional people aged 25 – 45.
There also will be a big push for RVs and family camping.
A new brochure for 2015 will be reduced in size but have more maps. It will push traffic to online media.
The new board members elected at the agm for 2015 are as follows:
• Additional Hotel Tax representatives – AJ Bachhal, Clearwater Lodge; Tania Govaert, Clearwater Springs Ranch, TWG secretary;
• Park Use Permit holder representative, Doris Laner, Clearwater Lake Tours, TWG vice chair;
• Guiding and activities representative – Gy Ovenden, Discover Wells Gray, TWG chair;
• Accommodation, food and beverage representative – Jon Kreke, Dutch lake Resort and Painted Turtle Restaurant;
• Tourism at Large representative – Courtnay Sedgewick, Across the Creek Cabins, TWG treasurer.
