Manic Monday | Spring is slow to arrive, but not so for our new developments

While spring does not seem to want to arrive to our region, there are a lot of other exciting developments taking place all over the Thompson Okanagan that are giving us a lot to talk about.

The construction of new hotels throughout the region is a tremendous sign that our industry is continuing to grow and expand, enabling us to welcome more domestic and international visitors to the area in the months and years to come.

Here is a brief update on a number of projects currently in planning or near completion.

In 2018 there are 4 new hotels scheduled to open including the Wingate by Wyndham in Kamloops; an 80 room Coast Hotel opening in May in Oliver and two hotels 120 room hotels in Kelowna including the Holiday Inn Express and Suites in June as well as the Courtyard by Marriott later in the year.

Clearwater will be seeing a Best Western Plus open in June of 2019 while construction is scheduled to start as well this year on hotels in Salmon Arm (Fairfield) and Vernon (Best Western Premiere and Sheraton Four Points).

Penticton has two, as yet, unbranded hotels announced but not yet under construction and Kelowna has a further 147 hotel rooms announced in a mixed-use condominium development that are as yet pending a construction start date.

I am sure that I have missed some of the other proposed and pending developments taking place in and around the region and encourage you to let me know if there is a new tourism development going forward in your community.

Spring may be taking its time, but that is not true for our regional development plans. With Tourism continuing to be the #1 industry British Columbia and in the Thompson Okanagan, we are thrilled to see the continued increase in new product that enable us all to welcome our visitors from around the world and ultimately benefit all of us who are fortunate enough to call this part of the world our home.

Glenn Mandziuk, TOTA President & CEO