Photo: Tourism Vernon

Tourism numbers have returned to pre-pandemic levels in the Thompson-Okanagan.

The latest stats from the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association show a rocky start to the year, with several peaks and valleys, but domestic overnight visitations for the week of April 18-24 were up 15.7% compared to the same week in 2019.

Just two weeks earlier, they were down 0.5%.

The Thompson-Okanagan continues to be the destination of choice, however, seeing 17% more visitation compared to stats for the province as a whole.

Visitation increased by 24% over the previous week in the region.

The data is based on movement of mobile devices that have spent at least one night 60 kilometres or more away from home.

Provincial hotel stats for May 1-7 show 66% occupancy Sunday through Thursday and 70% for the weekend.

As of May 5, national figures on how Canadians feel about travel show 88% of B.C. residents feel safe travelling to communities near them.

Eighty-three per cent feel safe within the province, and 74% say they feel safe anywhere in Canada. Less than half (48%) feel safe travelling to the United States or internationally (47%).

Four in 10 British Columbians surveyed in a snapshot taken April 8 intended to make a day trip within the following four weeks, according to data from Destination BC.

For overnight travel, more than half appear to want to wait a while. Thirty per cent said they'd wait two or three months, and 29% four to 12 months.

The largest percentage (27%) would wait up to a year before travelling farther afield in Canada, and equal amounts (26%) said they'd wait two years or longer before returning to travel in the U.S.

Thirty-five per cent were unsure about international travel, preferring to wait more than two years.

Photo: TOTA