Tourism

Minister for Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport Lana Popham (front row second from left), Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Future Skills Selina Robinson (front row third from left) and Okanagan College President Dr. Neil Fassina (front row right) were on hand for the announcement for a new food, wine and tourism centre for the college. (Photo/Gaary Barnes)

Province cooks up new centre for tourism, culinary arts at Okanagan College

The province is providing OC with $44.8 million for the centre

 

The houseboat that sits on Highway 1 in Sicamous will no longer have an occupant as of the end of April and council is deciding what to do next with the building. (Black Press file photo)

Sicamous council discusses future of houseboat landmark along Highway 1

The building greets visitors to the houseboat capital of Canada

 

Raylene Watts, left, and Alex Tuele, both from Fanny Bay, visit the Port Alberni waterfront looking for treasure on Wednesday, March 9, 2023. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Treasure seekers scour British Columbia for pot of ‘gold’

B.C.-based scavenger hunt offered $1,000 if someone could solve five riddles

 

Minister of International Development Harjit S. Sajjan. (Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)

Big bucks for Central Okanagan businesses to boost tourism

Sixteen projects to benefit from $2.5 million in funding across Thompson Okanagan

Minister of International Development Harjit S. Sajjan. (Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)
People walk past carnival game stands below a ferris wheel during the Pacific National Exhibition Fair, in Vancouver, on Thursday, September 1, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. introduces $30M fund to support festivals, events over next 2 years

One-time grants come as event organizers cite increased costs, supply chain issues, trouble hiring

People walk past carnival game stands below a ferris wheel during the Pacific National Exhibition Fair, in Vancouver, on Thursday, September 1, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The empty streets of Banff are seen as Parks Canada is restricting vehicles in the national parks and national historic sites in Banff, Alta., on March 24, 2020. Banff tourism officials are joining the call for better management of visitor traffic in the most heavily visited parts of the national park. In a document outlining its development plans for the next decade, Banff and Lake Louise Tourism says it wants to reduce damaging traffic bottlenecks through improved public transit and fewer private vehicles. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Banff tourism report seeks fewer private vehicles, more public transit in park

‘Vehicle traffic is one of the single biggest challenges in terms of…our ability to be sustainable’

The empty streets of Banff are seen as Parks Canada is restricting vehicles in the national parks and national historic sites in Banff, Alta., on March 24, 2020. Banff tourism officials are joining the call for better management of visitor traffic in the most heavily visited parts of the national park. In a document outlining its development plans for the next decade, Banff and Lake Louise Tourism says it wants to reduce damaging traffic bottlenecks through improved public transit and fewer private vehicles. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
A young boy who arrived on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong wears a face mask and face shield at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Hopes high in B.C. as China lifts border rules, but tourism recovery may take months

Chinese travellers were the second biggest international market for B.C. in 2019

A young boy who arrived on a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong wears a face mask and face shield at Vancouver International Airport, in Richmond, B.C., on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Okanagan College and the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association have collaborated on a new 26 week program (Okanagan College/Contributed)

Reducing hospitality and tourism work shortages the goal in Okanagan College partnership

While the initial program has started, it will be offered three more times over the next two years

Okanagan College and the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association have collaborated on a new 26 week program (Okanagan College/Contributed)
A woman checks out a jobs advertisement sign during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. Statistics Canada will release its latest reading on the job market on Friday. The agency will release its labour force survey for April. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

FINLAYSON: A post-Labour Day review of B.C.’s job market

‘The province’s economy is now losing steam amid a turbulent and uncertain global backdrop and decelerating growth in both the U.S. and Canada’

  • Sep 7, 2022
A woman checks out a jobs advertisement sign during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Wednesday, April 29, 2020. Statistics Canada will release its latest reading on the job market on Friday. The agency will release its labour force survey for April. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
West Kelowna wine country, pictured in October 2020. (Phil McLachlan - West K News)

B.C. wine industry still recovering, looking to return to pre-pandemic boom

The wine industry contributed $3.75 billion to the province economy in 2019

West Kelowna wine country, pictured in October 2020. (Phil McLachlan - West K News)
An Ottawa Police Service (OPS) office, Ministry of Transportation (MTO) officer and employees from Lady Dive Tour look at the aftermath of a single-vehicle accident involving an amphibious Lady Dive Tour vehicle which crashed into the 24 Sussex Dr. in Ottawa, Ont. on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
An Ottawa Police Service (OPS) office, Ministry of Transportation (MTO) officer and employees from Lady Dive Tour look at the aftermath of a single-vehicle accident involving an amphibious Lady Dive Tour vehicle which crashed into the 24 Sussex Dr. in Ottawa, Ont. on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby
Squamish B.C. landscape (pixabay.com photo)

Visitors urged to love Sea-to-Sky region, but @dontloveittodeath

Awareness campaign aims to get residents thinking about litter, environment degradation and more

Squamish B.C. landscape (pixabay.com photo)
Tofino has been named one of the world’s most extraordinary destinations by TIME Magazine. (Westerly file photo)
Tofino has been named one of the world’s most extraordinary destinations by TIME Magazine. (Westerly file photo)
A community of 1,396, Galiano Island saw an estimated 80,200 visitors in 2007 (John McKinley file)

Galiano Island’s ecological footprint swells from tourism: study

Community’s footprint ‘much larger’ than other B.C. locales

A community of 1,396, Galiano Island saw an estimated 80,200 visitors in 2007 (John McKinley file)
Stephanie Thor and her dog Bailey are joined by another dog as they cool off at Kin Beach (Lisa VanderVelde/Morning Star)

Views, vines and vivacious vacations in Vernon

The Okanagan Valley Chambers of Commerce created videos highlighting local communities

Stephanie Thor and her dog Bailey are joined by another dog as they cool off at Kin Beach (Lisa VanderVelde/Morning Star)
Summerland Singers and Players will stage a murder mystery play aboard the Kettle Valley Steam Railway’s steam train in July. (Photo courtesy of the Summerland Museum)

Murder mystery set aboard Summerland steam train

Story inspired by actual events from early 1920s

Summerland Singers and Players will stage a murder mystery play aboard the Kettle Valley Steam Railway’s steam train in July. (Photo courtesy of the Summerland Museum)
Dick Brown at 16. (Submitted photo)

Victoria man surprised to learn he authored 1966 note in B.C. beach time capsule

Letter found 56 years later by Rathtrevor Beach tourists

Dick Brown at 16. (Submitted photo)
Leah discovered a small glass cream bottle that contained a note written more than 50 years ago. (Submitted photo)

B.C. family discovers 56-year-old message in bottle on Vancouver Island beach

Buried treasure inadvertently dug out of 4-foot deep hole in sand

Leah discovered a small glass cream bottle that contained a note written more than 50 years ago. (Submitted photo)
Tim Sangha, a member of the Nanaimo-based business partnership that has owned the Scarlet Ibis Pub and Restaurant since November 2020, presents a carving by woodcarver Rick Rotar of the Ibis business logo to Patricia Gwynne who owned and operated the Island’s most remote pub for more than 40 years. (Scarlet Ibis image)

New business partners breathe new life into Vancouver Island’s most remote pub

Scarlet Ibis Pub and Restaurant in Holberg is edge of civilization for wilderness adventurers

Tim Sangha, a member of the Nanaimo-based business partnership that has owned the Scarlet Ibis Pub and Restaurant since November 2020, presents a carving by woodcarver Rick Rotar of the Ibis business logo to Patricia Gwynne who owned and operated the Island’s most remote pub for more than 40 years. (Scarlet Ibis image)
Spinal Cord Injury BC will be conducting in-person assessments of different tourism businesses in the Lower Mainland, Sea-to-Sky and Sunshine Coast, giving advice on how they can improve access and inclusion for disabled folks (PattiRey/Pixabay.com)

New partnership looks to make B.C.’s tourism industry more disability-friendly

Spinal Cord Injury BC working with tourism businesses to help them identify accessibility gaps

Spinal Cord Injury BC will be conducting in-person assessments of different tourism businesses in the Lower Mainland, Sea-to-Sky and Sunshine Coast, giving advice on how they can improve access and inclusion for disabled folks (PattiRey/Pixabay.com)