Step in the right direction

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 is 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 BC 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.

Tony Stewart
CEO, Quails’ Gate Winery