The Government of British Columbia is supporting local tourism by investing more than $5.97 million in 14 resort-oriented municipalities throughout the Province, including the most recent instalment of $152,793 for Sun Peaks.
Since the Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) was launched in 2007, Sun Peaks has received more than $917,000. Communities will use RMI funding to enhance services and infrastructure geared at attracting more tourists and having them stay longer.
“This initiative is all about growing a robust local tourism economy,” says Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Terry Lake. “While many people typically think of Sun Peaks as a great place to visit in the winter, RMI funding has helped it develop itself into a summer destination offering a wide range of activities. These year-round offerings are attracting more tourists and more dollars into this resort community.”
This year’s RMI funds will be used toward projects including music and Oktoberfest events, and a portable stage.
“RMI funding enabled Sun Peaks to launch itself as a major summer destination. The success of our RMI funded summer concert series with performances by Kevin Costner, Burton Cummings and Colin James and many others has given our community renewed confidence,” says Sun Peaks Mayor Al Raine. “With the increase in summer visitors, resort activities and employment are approaching our successful winter numbers. We now have summer visitors from B.C., the Pacific Northwest and beyond, and we are proud to be among the 127,600 British Columbians who work in the tourism industry.”
Since 2007, more than $72.5 million dollars has been invested through the RMI in tourism infrastructure and programs to support regional tourism economies. In 2011, the tourism sector — identified in the BC Jobs Plan as one of eight key sectors — employed 126,700 British Columbians, generated more than $13.4 billion in revenue for tourism-related businesses and contributed more than $1.13 billion to provincial government revenues.
To learn more about the program, visit http://www.ruralbc.gov.bc.ca/about/RMI/RMI_Index.html.
For more information about the BC Jobs Plan, please visit http://www.bcjobsplan.ca/.
