Osoyoos Visitor Centre. (File photo)

By Dale Boyd

Osoyoos Times

Tourism numbers are steady in Osoyoos according to the local tourism organization.

Executive director of Destination Osoyoos, Kelley Glazer, gave an update to council at their committee of the whole meeting on Sept. 3.

Mayor Sue McKortoff asked Glazer about the impact media has had on tourism this year, noting a recent air quality index advisory reported on this summer while skies were blue in Osoyoos.

“The damage to our visitor base was done in the last two to three years. This year, as you all know, we had one or two days of concerning smoke and that was it. We made a point in the last two years of being out doing video every day. Posting it, showing people what the actual weather was like, what the smoke was like,” Glazer said.

The Thompson-Okanagan Tourism Association rolled out its “crisis communications co-ordinator” Rob Grifone in response to give “accurate and up-to-date information from official resources only.”

The effort has produced one “Thompson Okanagan Wildfire Update,” during the Eagle Bluff wildfire near Oliver in August.

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The provincial body, Destination BC, visited Osoyoos in a networking session at the visitor’s centre in May where the issue was discussed, Glazer said.

“We talked about what you can do to mitigate problems with this type of negative media that goes out there and how you should handle the … cancellations, if there are any, and also to please, please keep us informed,” Glazer said. “We’ve had great success with that this year.”

Tourism groups in the Okanagan have pointed the finger at media outlets for visitor dips or cancellations in the South Okanagan, but numbers remain steady for Osoyoos businesses according to Glazer.

“The reports we got back are basically that business was slower to book. So, the window was shorter to book …  two to three days instead of our typical three weeks or three months, which is difficult for businesses,” Glazer said. “But business wasn’t lost. There was not reduction in rates, our average rate is very high and very healthy.”

Glazer did credit media with reporting more accurately this year, though she did not cite specific examples.

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“The media has also done quite a good job in being a little bit more careful about the words they use and how they report, so that people are given the actual facts of where problems are and where they are not,” Glazer said.

McKortoff said she was not pleased with the reporting on a special air quality advisory from Environment Canada earlier this summer.

“It kind of annoyed me when I heard ‘there’s problems in the South Okanagan breathing stay inside,’ and you would look out and see it’s perfectly clear here,” McKortoff said.

McKortoff did not cite a specific article. None of the headlines seemed to deter too many visitors to Osoyoos,  according to Glazer.

“There are lots people wondering how our summer was and in general terms it has been very, very strong, very good,” Glazer said.

The visitor centre saw 1,000 more people in August over last year’s numbers, and visitor numbers are tracking upward online.

Winter festival in planning stage

Other tourism highlights in  included advertising in an RV magazine and a WestJet publication as well as a ski-and-stay campaign featuring Osoyoos and Mount Baldy. That campaign  generated about 70 room nights in local hotels, said Glazer.

“In the winter time that’s business we wouldn’t normally have, so we’re happy with it, we would like to see more,” Glazer said.

A spring golf campaign using direct marketing increased Destination Osoyoos subscriptions as well.

Destination Osoyoos is working to start a winter festival in 2020 with a three-year contract with a private company.

“We’re looking for it to be approximately anywhere from three to five days long. And we’ll incorporate a lot of the things that are already happening and just tie it up in a nice little bow and seal it with some sort of gala opening,” Glazer said.