Prince George got a big tourism spike in 2016, thanks to an increased interest from local, national, and even international sporting organizations.
Tourism PG CEO Erica Hummel says this new eye for the city comes as no surprise.
“Coming off of the 2015 previous year, which was a huge year for us hosting the Canada Winter Games, 2016 built on that and terms of a sport tourism and building the capacity for future events.”
The Canada Winter Games legacy left a big mark on the city, which has led to the city’s winning bid for the World Para-Nordic Skiing Championships in 2019.
VIDEO: @Lynhallpg, MLAs, @OtwayPG, & others unveil official sign for upcoming 2019 World ParaNordic Skiing Championships @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/sXihXpcUHq
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) December 9, 2016
However, while the majority of tourism went up this past year, Hummel says the amount of tourists staying for a significant amount of time hasn’t changed.
“We’re hoping to see growth next year and hopefully the occupancy rates of the hotels will show a steady incline and get an increase from now and going into the next few years.”
Tourism PG is hoping to create a new video project for 2017 that will showcase and determine which sports and other events they can accommodate in the future.
Hummel believes new festivals currently being planned for February and July next year will bring a new demographic of tourists.
“We’re really trying to build those two months by creating a lot of events that create that festive atmosphere so that people will want to come to Prince George and take in anything that’s happening on the weekends and weeknights and keeping it really animated.”
She says there’s always room for improvement when promoting all fields of tourism.
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