Tourism Kelowna collects research data from numerous sources, which helps support and inform our team's work while also allowing us to identify trends and patterns in the local market. Key indicators, including visitation, hotel occupancy, airport passenger numbers, and more, are regularly posted and collected. In the first half (Q1-Q2) of 2024, many indicators showed year-over-year (YOY) increases compared to the first half of 2023, including new benchmarks being set.
Fast facts for Q1 - Q2 2024
Hotels in Kelowna and the Central Okanagan performed well, with YOY increases in all metrics, as noted in the infographic below. Larger YOY increases in Hotel Occupancy were seen in May and June 2024, with an average increase of 10.6% compared to the same months in 2023. A new benchmark was also set in June 2024 with 81.6% Hotel Occupancy, beating out the previous benchmark in June 2019 of 80.3%.
Passengers through the Kelowna International Airport (YLW) also continued to see increases in the total number of passengers compared to 2023, surpassing 1 million passengers for the first half of 2024. April and May 2024 set new benchmarks for the total number of passengers, with 159,656 in April and 164,033 in May, compared to the previous benchmarks of 156,816 in April 2018 and 156,491 in May 2023. Passenger numbers for June 2024 decreased by 3.2%; however, the WestJet strike at the end of June led to hundreds of flight cancellations, impacting tens of thousands of WestJet guests across Canada and the total number of passengers at YLW.
Short-term rental indicators in Kelowna and the Central Okanagan have decreased YOY, with average occupancy down 0.8% and the total number of reservations down 23.2%. However, with increases and new benchmarks set for months in Q2 2024 for both hotel occupancy and the total number of passengers through YLW, this indicates that there has been a shift away from short-term rentals to hotel stays. We will continue to monitor this closely, given changes in short-term rental legislation from the province and municipalities that came into effect in May 2024 and will continue to provide updates throughout the year.
You can find additional research data here.
If you have questions about the report, contact me at steve@tourismkelowna.com. Or if you have insights or perspectives from your business, please reach out to the appropriate member of our team; we would love to hear from you.
Additional resources:
- View data from Kelowna and the Central Okanagan via Tourism Kelowna's Industry Indicators Dashboard (must be a Tourism Kelowna Member with Partner Portal access to view)
- Explore data from communities across BC, including detailed monthly data from Kelowna, via Destination British Columbia’s Tourism Industry Dashboard.
- View BC Weekly Domestic Visitor Insights via Symphony Tourism Services Research Hub.
- Canadian Tourism Data Collective, a new centralized national platform for data, research, and insights.
Tourism Kelowna collects and analyzes data from various sources. The data presented in this article represents data Tourism Kelowna has received up to the end of Q2 2024, which allows us to report on the data promptly. Visitation data will be compiled and shared at a later date.
