Taj Mahal or Travel Van: Two different takes on tourism promotion in the Okanagan

OKANAGAN – Both Kelowna and Penticton rely heavily on tourism but they are reaching out in decidedly different ways both in strategy and cost.

Tourism Kelowna and Travel Penticton face the same dilemma in meeting changing habits of tourists. The old way of putting information centres in high traffic locations where tourists could find and access them is deemed a bygone era and now tourism organizations believe they have to go where the tourists are. 

Tourism Kelowna’s approach was to build, and is soon to open, its controversial lakefront visitors centre in a brand new $2.8 million building on the site of Kelowna’s former ferry dock. As former board chair Daniel Bibby said last year, they felt they needed to be at the focal point of the city because "that's where the people are."

Travel Penticton took a different approach to being where the people and traffic are and announced this week it is doing tourism outreach in a Dodge Caravan, leased for $600 a month. The city already has a permanent visitor centre but the shrink-wrapped van, featuring photos of Penticton, gives the centre the “opportunity to go to major events and tourist hot spots throughout the city.” Total cost, with staff is $15,000 per season.

Tourism Kelowna communications director Chris Shauf says they have yet to determine an exact opening date for the 3,000 square foot facility and promised “concierge-style” tourism information service at the new location.

Travel Penticton’s new facility, on the other hand, offers seating for seven and 33 cubic feet of cargo volume… if the seats are up. It is ready to go this week.

Tourism Kelowna defended the relative oppulence of its new facility and its prime location saying it was necessary to counter plummeting visits to the drab old centre on Highway 97 and because “a visitor’s centre needs to be where the traffic is."

Questions dogged the Kelowna project early on about why such prime waterfront real estate was being rezoned for something that supported only tourism.

— This story was updated 10:38 a.m. Friday, June 15, 2018 with new information from Travel Penticton.

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