Tourist accommodation providers in Clearwater and Wells Gray Country started collecting a local hotel tax on Nov. 1, tourism and marketing coordinator Heather Steere reported to District of Clearwater council recently.
This is significant because the money will be used to jointly market the area. At present Tourism Wells Gray, which represents and acts for the area’s tourism industry, is primarily funded by the District and Thompson-Nicola Regional District through Wells Gray Country.
Hotel and motel keepers will be visited to ensure they know how the tax will be structured, Steere told council.
According to the Visitors’ Center, tourism numbers are up from last year.
Steere said the final figures are not in, but it appears the local tourism industry did about as well so far this year as it did in 2008.
“We’re doing very well compared to the rest of B.C.,” she said.
The majority of visitors to this area are from Holland, Germany and the U.K.
This is significant because overseas travelers typically spend $1,400 during a trip, while local visitors spend only $305.
The value of tourism in the Thompson-Okanagan was $1.75 billion last year. The region’s industry is the fasted growing in B.C., and tourism is now the number one employer in the region.
There has been a shift in the purchasing paradigm used by tourists, Steere told Clearwater council.
Tourists now use the Internet to make their travel decisions, and then use it again to tell others about their trips.
“They are telling the world about their experiences,” she said. “Social networking is now the number one activity on the Internet. If you’re not on there, you’re missing 90 per cent of the opportunities.”
With this in mind, Steere said she would continue to build and develop links with key industry websites and social media applications.
Projects include putting several trails in Wells Gray Park onto maps that can be accessed by mobile devices. These can be uploaded on the Tourism Wells Gray website. The project is being done in collaboration with the North Thompson Sustainable Watershed Committee, BC Parks and Thompson Rivers University.
Tourism Wells Gray received a report from Stu Crawford of Crawford Consulting on a development plan to get UNESCO World Heritage and GeoPark status for Wells Gray Park’s volcanoes.
Copies of the report have been sent to funding partners. Timeline and action plans are being developed, including setting up a UNESCO steering committee.