2022 Industry Indicators Update and Forecast

5 min read

Performance measures for January to June 2022 indicate that Kelowna and the Central Okanagan’s tourism industry has performed well in the first half of the year. Overall, industry indicators have increased compared to the last two years (during the COVID-19 pandemic) and are close to 2019, which was our highest, benchmark year. While we are confident about the forecast for the second half of 2022 and into 2023, we continue to closely monitor national economic conditions that may impact consumer spending and travel behaviour. …

New Content Features Encourage Staycations

1 min read

The 2020/21 winter season has been tough for the tourism industry, with hotels among the hardest hit—normal occupancy levels during the winter in Kelowna are around 40-50%, but this year they have been as low as 20%. In an effort to boost hotel occupancy by encouraging staycations through the rest of winter and into spring, Tourism Kelowna is developing new content features focused on the local market…

2020 Industry Performance and Forecast

3 min read

It has been over five months since COVID-19 impacted our local, national, and global tourism industry. During that time, many businesses and entire industries have shifted focus to survive the pandemic. It’s been said that the tourism industry was among the first impacted, one of the most severely hit, and will be one of the last to fully recover. We are starting to get more research and data back about how our local industry has been impacted, how it has performed, and signals as to what may lie ahead…

Summer Hotel Occupancy Numbers Rebound

2 min read

Hotel occupancy numbers show that Kelowna experienced a strong summer season this year. June, July, and August had an average occupancy of 85.3%, which is 5.7 pp (percentage points) over the same period last year, with August surpassing the 90% occupancy mark…