Packed Kamloops hotels a positive omen for post-pandemic recovery

KAMLOOPS — Hotel availability is slim in Kamloops — so much so that the Vancouver Giants have to stay in Sun Peaks for their faceoff against the Kamloops Blazers this weekend — but there’s more than one reason as to why hotels are full.

Visitors, workers, sports tournaments and staffing shortages have all had an effect on the hotel industry. The hotel vacancy rate is very tight with the summer approaching.

“Every angle, every aspect of the business has been hit hard. Again, it’s a perfect storm and people are fighting it they’re challenging it and travelling hard so weekends are sports teams, weekdays are corporate. Every segment of this business is busy and keeps the hotels occupied,” says Percy Amaria with Tourism Kamloops.

Many hotels are experiencing higher than normal occupancy as industry workers are contributing to the room shortage.

“Now we see people stay three nights, four-night stays coming into town when it was always a one-night destination. It’s a good transition that we see. I don’t see Trans Mountain is a bad thing or workers are a bad thing — it’s business at the end of the day,” Amaria adds.

After two years, people are starting to get out more, and Delta Hotel Vice President Bryan Pilbeam says businesses are flourishing.

“Business is absolutely booming for us. It’s our guest rooms, it’s our meeting space, it’s our restaurant — everything is really busy right now and so we couldn’t be more pleased. We were in a really deep hole in this industry over the last two years and a lot of debt was taken on just to stay in business, to stay afloat. We’ll never get that back, but we’re excited it’s coming back.”

With hotels busy, restauranteurs, local shop owners and others can feel the summer excitement in the air.

“We’ve got some musicians and so forth in the downtown, we’ve got battle of the bands coming up… it seems like you can start to feel the buzz and you can start to feel the energy,” said Howie Reimer of the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association. “You hear from Tourism Kamloops and from the accommodations association that we’re booked solid. It’s definitely starting to pick up downtown.”

Another big tourism driver is the Rocky Mountaineer rail tour. After a two-year absence, it’s back once again.

“They’re only in town for a short time. They come in late afternoon, early evening and they’re gone the next day but we’re looking at around 100,000 passengers coming through Kamloops once again,” Reimer adds.

Fully-booked hotels are a positive omen for the hospitality industry after struggling through the lows of the pandemic.