Travel ban in parts of B.C. disrupting tourism as raging wildfires burn

The central Okanagan is facing weeks without tourism during its peak season after British Columbia's premier imposed bans on travel to wildfire zones.

David Eby says the decision was made to ensure accommodation is available for crews and the 30,000 or more people who were forced from their homes across B.C.

The order, which was introduced Saturday under the provincial state of emergency, will be in place until Sept. 4 for hotels, motels, inns, bed and breakfasts, hostels, RV parks and campgrounds in Kelowna, West Kelowna, Kamloops, Oliver, Osoyoos, Penticton and Vernon.

The province says the travel ban does not impact other regions, but is asking people to avoid non-essential travel to the central Interior and southeast to keep roads clear for emergency-response operations and other potential evacuations.

In Kelowna, where nearby wildfires have forced the evacuation of thousands, watercraft rental businesses have closed their doors, leaving boats and jet skis sitting idle, bobbing on the water.

Realtor Raymun Khunkhun, who has lived in Kelowna for about three decades, says the ban has left streets usually teeming with visitors eerily bare.

“There’s not a lot of people walking around or anything, it’s almost like a ghost town now out here," he said in an interview Saturday.

“These streets are usually packed, like it’s hard single-file walking when you’re on the sidewalks, and now it’s almost a little scary in a sense that it’s just empty."

But, he said there’s not much that can be done now other than “pray for better days.”

“Hopefully this doesn’t turn into anything worse than it already is."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2023.