SUN PEAKS RESORT AND TOURISM SUN PEAKS

SEE RECORD-BREAKING SKI SEASON

A return to travel, population growth and excellent skiing conditions resulted in high ski visitation and hotel stays

By Liz McDonald

Skier visitations and revenue from hotel taxes hit record numbers this winter in Sun Peaks.

Aidan Kelly, chief marketing officer of Sun Peaks Resort (SPR), said the number of people skiing at the resort was close to 10 per cent higher than the previous record and skier visitation was up 25 per cent more than last year.

Kelly credits these high numbers to a late-season snow dump in Sun Peaks, in addition to returning Australian and international tourism.

Roads reopening certainly helped, too, after last year’s season was delayed significantly by atmospheric rivers shutting down all four highway routes to Sun Peaks from the Lower Mainland.

“We are still a primary drive market destination. We get lots of international guests coming through the Kamloops airport … but when all of the highways to the west were gone, that had a really, really big impact,” Kelly explained.

According to Kelly, travellers from Australia are Sun Peaks' biggest international customers. While international visitation is still down by around 25 per cent compared to pre-COVID-19 numbers, he told SPIN a return of these customers bodes well for the future.

Kelly said another trend is increased sales and the use of season passes.

A few weeks of powder in February resulted in excellent conditions on the mountain and Kelly said that encouraged people to use their season tickets.

Most season pass holders were local over the last season and Kelly said an increase in Kamloops’ population led to the growth in that market. Kamloops’ population increased by 8.4 per cent from 2016 to 2021, according to the 2021 census.

Arlene Schieven, president and CEO of Tourism Sun Peaks (TSP), told SPIN room sales were up 26 per cent from the previous year between November to March compared to last year and revenue from hotel taxes hit record highs.

The municipal regional district tax (MRDT) is a three per cent tax applied to every hotel and Airbnb rental which then goes to the province. TSP gets 2.8 per cent of the tax back for revenue.

Schieven told SPIN the revenue from MRDT was far higher than ever before from December to February. She forecasts a 50 per cent increase compared to TSP’s previous record for MRDT revenue. However, the province submits revenue on a twomonth delay, so TSP does not have numbers for March and April.

Access to SPR’s controlled recreation area is closed as the resort prepares for summer operations.