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August 7, 2013
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Inside
Tennis still going strong at Woodsdale courts ...............................
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Responsibility not only for what they say, but for what they accommodate others to say, lies in the hands of publishers as well as the individual, says Faith columnist Jim Taylor. ...............................
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Art appreciation through a series of lectures hosted by the Lake Country Art Gallery. ...............................
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Flyers ■ JYSK ■ Shoppers Drug Mart ■ Staples
LOCAL LAKES will be criss-crossed by every type of watercraft as locals and vacationers take advantage of the waning days of summer.
BLACK PRESS FILE
▼ SUMMER HOLIDAYS
No holding back tourists in the dynamic Okanagan WADE PATERSON August is the month when the Okanagan Valley’s roads, beaches and lakes teem with visitors making the most of precious vacation time. Alberta licence plates seem to match B.C. plates one for one. Motor homes, RVs, fifth wheels juggle for space along the highway. Massive trucks haul sleek boats of every description toward the water—any water. The early worry for local resorts, motels, hotels, bed and breakfasts and camping grounds this year was that the flood-
ing in Alberta would keep those vacationers away. But is looks like resilient Albertans have recovered enough to take a richly deserved road trip for some rest and relaxation in the Okanagan. “There are only a few (hoteliers) who are expressing unease, which is linked with the Calgary market,” said Tourism Kelowna’s Catherine Frechette. “Overwhelmingly, the confidence is good for August.” In July Tourism Kelowna conducted an informal poll with hoteliers to determine the impact the Alberta floods would
have on local tourism. Frechette said the results showed the majority of hotel, bed and breakfast and campground owners saw increased business in July. That leaves the local tourism market feeling optimistic about the overall summer season. “What we’ve seen over the last few years has been small increases, year over year, building back up from the decline that we saw in 2009 from the economic downturn. “The increases have been nominal, so we’re not quite up to the height of 2008 just yet,
but we’re headed in the right direction,” she said. Most Okanagan Valley visitors traditionally come from B.C. and Alberta. While this is still the case, the type of vacation they’re opting to take has evolved. Many tourists are choosing quick, spur-ofthe-moment getaways as opposed to multi-week holidays. Daily non-stop flights to and from Toronto have also brought more Ontario residents to the Okanagan Valley. Tourism Kelowna aggressively promotes the entire region, including
Lake Country, in popular markets. “We’ll do radio campaigns on Vancouver stations or (other) stations where we know there’s a high percentage of that market that travels to Kelowna in the summer.” They also go after specific travellers in niche markets, with the aim of bringing golfers, wine lovers and, most recently, adventure seekers to our backyard. Recently Bob Weeks profiled Okanagan area golf courses for a TSN feature. “We do very highly targeted campaigns
because we know that those are deciding factors for people,” Frechette said. Perhaps the most successful effort came on July 15. Thats when more than three million sets of eyes witnessed what the Okanagan has to offer as it was the setting for the inaugural episode of The Amazing Race Canada. The show set a ratings record and was the most watched Canadian entertainment program since the Corner Gas finale in 2009. wpaterson @kelownacapnews.com Twitter: @PatersonWade
Documentary marks anniversary of pivotal Valley event To commemorate a significant event in the Okanagan history, a new documentary film about the Okanagan Mountain Park wildfire of 2003 will premiere on Aug. 16, 7
p.m., at the Paramount Theatre in Kelowna. The premiere for the film Firestorm: Out of the Ashes coincides with the 10th anniversary of the lightning strike on
Squally Point by Rattlesnake Island that spread across the eastern shoreline of Okanagan Lake. The fire spread across the Upper Mission destroying many homes
before carrying on into Myra Canyon where it destroyed a number of historic Kettle Valley Railway trestles. It forced the evacuation of 27,000 residents
and burned close to 62,000 acres of forest, grassland and residential property. More than 60 fire departments from across B.C. and Alberta, along with 1,400 Armed
Forces personnel and 1,000 forest fire firefighters were call in to help battle the blaze. The damage has since
SEE FIRESTORM A3