A month after Powell River woke up to orange skies, falling ash, and an ever present darkness, the thick smoke from nearby forest fires has struck again with diminished mid-season tourism numbers.
“I was getting phone calls from people going, “Do you have smoke in Powell River? What’s the forecast?’,” said Tracey Ellis, manager of Powell River Visitor Information Centre. “It was hard, because we didn’t know.”
Powell River was mired in smoke for nearly a week, the result, a 13 per cent decrease in visitors compared to this time last year.
“The smoke definitely played a part,” said Ellis, who also saw similar declines in Comox, and Sechelt, as well as Vancouver. “Those people travelling around BC decided…that they wanted to wait it out.”
Despite low visitor numbers this July, the number of visitors asking about hiking and mountain biking has increased, said Ellis, who credits the annual BC Bike race with raising Powell River’s profile.
Visitors interested in fishing are also on the rise, over 300 per cent compared to last year.
“We’ve seen a huge interest in fishing this year,” said Ellis. “And it’s not just people who are interested in salmon, because it’s a good year for pinks, but people who want to pick oysters or clams, or go catch a halibut.”
More and more visitors are also inquiring about community services, said Ellis, perhaps scouting Powell River out as a place to live in response to the recent resident recruitment program.
Although July numbers are down compared to this time last year, looking forward and projecting off the increase in accommodation requests, tourism is lined up for an August rebound, she added.
“This is good news,” said Ellis. “More people are coming to Powell River and liking what they see.”
For more information, readers can contact Ellis at 604.485.4701, or drop by the visitor information centre at 4760 Joyce Avenue.
