Photo: Contributed

Despite its detractors, Kelowna’s new tourism centre has been a smash hit.

The Kelowna Tourism Society announced Tuesday during its annual general meeting that the waterfront centre has attracted 108,000 visitors in its first six months of operation.

The goal was to attract 100,000 visitors per year.

“We are proud of our accomplishments and appreciative to have an amazing operational team and an engaged volunteer board made up of hard-working individuals, each representing different elements of our industry but all coming together for the best interests of the destination,” Tourism Kelowna chairperson Thom Killingsworth said in a press release.

The organization also announced that local tourist accommodation occupancy was up 1.3 per cent over the last year, despite the smoky summer skies.

Tourism Kelowna believes that was a result of it targeting new markets, including LGBT travel, culinary tourism and indigenous offerings, for authentic culture seekers.