It’s been said time and time again – everything in Osoyoos depends on the weather.
And the tourist season is no different, as thousands of out-of-towners flock to the area whenever the thermometer climbs. But with the record amounts of rain seen throughout the South Okanagan, many are wondering how Osoyoos fared this year.
“It was an energetic and lively summer, I must say, particularly in August,” said Jo Knight, executive director with Destination Osoyoos.
With the poor weather seen throughout the region in May and June, Knight said the numbers are down for those months, but as the weather improved, so too did the numbers.
In Osoyoos, the number of people to visit the provincial visitor centre in July was down 8.2 per cent when compared to last year, seeing only 8,870 visitors. However, that number jumped in August, with Osoyoos seeing a 2.6 per cent increase compared to 2011.
Knight said that over the summer, the Thompson-Okanagan region was one of the few spots across the province to see a jump (2.8 per cent increase) in tourism during the month of August.
“The Thompson-Okanagan is faring better than the rest of the province,” she said.
Compared to the Kootenay-Rockies area – which saw a 10.4 per cent decrease in July and a 5.5 per cent decrease in August – and the entire province in general – which saw a 9.4 per cent drop in July and a 7.3 per cent drop in August – Knight said Osoyoos did fairly well.
But because these numbers only reflect the number of people who visit the visitor centre, much more is needed for an accurate picture, she said.
Ron Stephens, president of the Osoyoos Hotel/Motel Association, said the hotels and motels in Osoyoos also saw a similar pattern, where there was a significant slump in July followed by a great August.
“What I’ve heard so far, is that places were slower for the first couple weeks of July … (but) their August was quite good,” he said.
Stephens said that even though previous years have had more of an even spread between July and August, based on the people he has spoken with so far, he feels the spike of tourists in August pretty much evened things out.
“I think because of the fabulous August weather we had, we probably came out pretty close to even,” he said.
Within the business community itself, over at Family Foods, owner Ken Naylor echoed what Stephens and Knight reported, reiterating that in Osoyoos it all comes down to the weather.
“Like everything, the tourist season is weather related and weather affected,” he said.  “The tourist numbers weren’t there in May and June, but July was about on-par and (we had) an exceptional August.  It was a very good August, but then the weather was very nice too.”
“Tourist season is affected immensely by weather, so if the weather’s good, the tourists stay around.”
Naylor said he expects his numbers to continue to grow as the sun in September continues to shine – an opinion shared by many other business owners.
He also said that with the growth of agricultural tourism in the area (wine tours, etc.) he expects the tourist season in Osoyoos to begin to extend throughout September and even into October.
Over at Steadman’s V and S Department Store on Main Street, owner Leo Callarec said his numbers this year were “exactly the same” as last year.
Just a few blocks up the road, and Wendy Herle, owner of Smitty’s Family Restaurant, said they too are pretty much even with the numbers they experienced last year. She said they had a slow start in July, but again, with the spike seen in August, they’ve evened out.
And while she does consider the weather a factor, Herle also said the Calgary Stampede’s 100th anniversary might have been a contributing factor.
“In my opinion, it had something to do with the Calgary Stampede’s 100th anniversary,” she said.  “A lot of our tourists come from Calgary, and so I’m thinking that being it was their 100th anniversary and it was such a big show and so many big name entertainers were there, I think some of the people that maybe normally came here to the Okanagan went to that, because they had record numbers.”
Finally, over on the east side of town, Paul Savage, owner of Rattlesnake Canyon, said despite the boost seen in August, business at the local amusement park is down a touch this year, again, because of the rain seen in late June and early July.
“It started out good and ended good,” he said.
Rattlesnake Canyon opened the week before the May long weekend and up until mid-June it was really good compared to last year, said Savage.
But like most of the other businesses in Osoyoos, the bad weather in early summer really put a damper on things.
“The weather affected us in late June and early July, but once August hit it was like the taps were turned on and everyone started coming,” he said.