Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

Visitors flocked to Penticton in 2014

Penticton's lakes, mountains and many wineries have drawn in record visitors this year.

Tourism Penticton Executive director Chris Bower said going from January to the end of July, visits were up 19 per cent from 2013.

Tourism Penticton doesn't have the exact numbers for August yet, but it is still expecting it to be higher than last August, because of the inquiries at the visitor centre looking for accommodations.

The same is true for September. The numbers are not in yet, but they are expecting that month to be good as well, said Bower.

"The weather was good, and we also had a lot of inquiries that month," he said.

To get the percentages, Bower calculated the increase in the 2 per cent room tax that was collected during those time periods.

Tourism Penticton works closely with the Penticton Hospitality Association to get those figures and they usually come in two months after the month in question.

Bower said there are several reasons why the numbers are up this year.

They include, marketing initiatives going on over the last couple of years,  great weather this summer and the economy overall, with travel up in British Columbia.

In addition, the wine industry is also very strong, with more than 120 wineries within an hour's drive of Penticton, said Bower.

"It's pretty exciting to see these types of numbers come in," he said. "It shows now that the economy is starting to regain where it was before the 2008 crash."