How revenge travel, boosting visits, and the World Cup can help Kelowna

Have you heard about revenge travel?

"Because it’s real,” federal Minister of Tourism Randy Boissonnault said with a smile at Kelowna’s City Park.

The Edmonton Member of Parliament was in town talking to business and tourism leaders as Kelowna gets ready for its first full summer season post-pandemic.

He was also boosting the recent Budget 2023, which features $108 million for tourism initiatives.

“After people spent so much time shuttered in their houses they want to go travel,” Boissonnault told Kelowna10. “Now the world wants to see what Canada has to offer. We’re seeing it in the numbers, we’re seeing in what people want: Indigenous tourism, culinary tourism, getting out on the water, getting into hikes on the hills. Kelowna has everything the world wants to see.”

He’s encouraging communities, small businesses and non-profits to apply for the new tourism funding through PacifiCan, and through a new fund with Destination Canada, that is specially geared at helping to finance major international conventions, conferences and events.

Boissonnault said after the record number of domestic travellers in recent years, he’s expecting all-time high numbers of foreign tourists to get moving again following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are leaning in very hard to bring our American counterparts back, the Brits, the Germans, the French, the Japanese. Mexico and the Brazilians are now a big draw to Canada,” he explained, noting once Asians start to travel in big numbers there will be a major surge.

“We’re anywhere between 85 and 94 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. This is the year we’re going to get back to 2019 levels, and when folks from Asia start coming, we’re going to see record high numbers in Canada,” he said.

No one can argue air travel is not what it was pre-pandemic with delays and cancellations almost routine, in part because of labour shortages.

Boissonnault said Budget 2023 addresses the need to make air travel more efficient. The aim is to expand eligibility for the Electronic Travel Authorization Program, so tourists from low-risk countries can be processed quicker.

But there’s money for airports like Kelowna's, too.

“There’s $1.8 billion over five years to make screening faster, to make safety faster, to have more people [staff] on the floor, but also to have a made-in-Canada frequent traveller program.”

He said there’s a need to diversify away from the big centres of Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal, and money will be available for improvements and better passenger processing technology for airports like Kelowna international.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be a three-nation affair featuring Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and while games will be hosted in Vancouver, Boissonnault said Kelowna can take advantage.

“You can’t imagine what an event that is bigger than the Olympics will mean for this country,” he said. “Bring the millions who are going to be coming to Vancouver, bring them to this city and region. “