Brad Bradbury
Tourism is a significant industry sector for the District of Clearwater and the surrounding area. It is estimated to have generated approximately 123 person years of employment in 2011 and hosted almost 600,000 visitors last year.
The community has in excess of 104,000 room nights per year available through a combination of hotels, motels, resorts, campsites, RV parks and bed and breakfasts. It also has a large selection of nature based adventure activities and opportunities that rank among the best in the world.
Tourism Wells Gray has, over the past few months, conducted a tourism focused economic impact study within the District of Clearwater and Thompson-Nicola Regional District Area A (Wells Gray Country) to assess the true value of the industry.
Over the next few weeks we will be sharing most of our findings - looking at a different sector within the tourism industry each week and presenting the figures in a local context.
One area of tourism that is often underappreciated is "sport tourism". The effect it has on a community and the revenue it generates are opportunities for growth within the region as a whole and Clearwater in particular.
Hockey, baseball and golf are key to the growing sports tourism market within the region. Here are some of our findings.
In 2011, hockey and activities at the Sportsplex contributed over $1.3 million to the local economy, brought over 3,000 people to our community and generated over 2,600 hotel room nights during winter months.
In 2011, baseball games and competitions contributed over $400,000 to the local economy. Over 2,000 people came to town to either play or watch baseball.
Golf is also a growing sports tourism sector and in 2011 generated almost $500,000 in additional community spending.
- Brad Bradbury is tourism-marketing manager with Tourism Wells Gray