The McEwan family from Alberta lathered up for a beach day in Kelowna on Wednesday, but this year they had to forgo the Airbnb they stayed at last year.
“The apartments were not available,” said Albertan Dustin McEwan. “Short-term rental I think.”
The family opted for a hotel, but it seems that tourists like them are not coming in droves this season.
“I don’t just notice it, I experience it,” says Wyn Lewis, owner of Vibrant Vine Winery. “In principle we are at 60 percent of last year.”
Lewis said some of his wine club members have indicated that new legislation restricting short-term rentals is keeping them away.
“I think there are, you know, unintended consequences of the recent law that passed with Airbnb. What we’re hearing is a groundswell of people saying, ‘That’s why you’re empty… look around here,'” he said, pointing to an empty tasting room.
Tourism Kelowna acknowledged that July appears to be softer in terms of visitor numbers compared to previous years.
“It definitely feels like it’s down a little bit,” said Lisanne Ballantyne, president and CEO of Tourism Kelowna.
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But Ballantyne said the numbers will likely balance out with a strong June.
“I think once we get our numbers in… we’ll suspect attendance will be similar to last year,” Ballantyne said.
She added that it makes no sense to lay the blame for an apparently slower July solely on the new short-term rental rules.
“We think back to that incredible three-week heatwave we had that reduced visitor numbers,” Ballantyne said. “Think about the fact that we had a WestJet attack. We lost some airline coverage in mid-June, which affected others’ decisions about their July vacation. Think about the fact that sometimes we have uncertainty about what kind of air it’s going to be… it’s a number of factors that influence tourism.”
BC Tourism Minister Lana Popham told Global News that tourism is declining worldwide, not just in Kelowna or B.C.
“We’re not doing too badly in terms of tourism, but we would definitely like to see more traffic,” Popham said.
She said one of the most important ways to support tourism is to ensure housing is available for hospitality workers, which the new short-term rental legislation aims to achieve.
“Trying to help people find housing so they can support the economy…. is a big priority for the government and we will see what that looks like with short-term rentals.”
Ballantyne added that Tourism Kelowna will have a better idea of the type of tourism season Kelowna is experiencing when it can look at visitor statistics in a few weeks.
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
