To the editor:
The new proposed location for a Visitor Centre is an excellent choice.
As a tourism business owner and a longtime resident of Kelowna, I fully support the relocation of the Kelowna Visitor Centre. I am excited about the proposal to relocate the centre to the Queensway Jetty downtown. This is certainly a step in the right direction and a move that needs to be made with the current growth of our industry.
Tourism in Kelowna has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade and we need a place to welcome guests that reflects this growth. This new facility will allow us to welcome our visitors with true Okanagan hospitality by providing a convenient, well-equipped and attractive information centre in an area where the tourists are. It will also allow businesses a centre of excellence to showcase to customers the unique offerings from this fantastic region.
The relocation makes a great deal of sense as it will attract and welcome not only visitors actively seeking tourism information, but tourists who walk by this high-traffic area who may not have otherwise visited the centre. As a basic rule of business; you go where the customers are, and I support Tourism Kelowna’s plan to do just that. The current centre is not in a place that highlights what Kelowna has to offer, it does not meet the high standards our guests expect and is inconvenient for tourists who may not want to get in a vehicle to seek information.
Kelowna showcases the best of B.C. and we need a Visitor Centre that reflects that. More visitors to the centre will lead to visitors doing and seeing more in our beautiful city and we will all benefit as a result of that.
Sincerely,
Tony Stewart
CEO, Quails’ Gate Winery
West Kelowna