Last year’s Boys Midget AA Provincials                  photo courtesy Tourism PG

Prince George, BC –  A lot of tourists already stopping by the Prince George Visitor Information Centre and several major events in the city this summer bode well for local businesses and service providers.

Tourism PG CEO, Aidan Kelly, says, "There’s a few good ‘anchor’ pieces, from a tourism standpoint, that we’re seeing in Prince George this summer."  The second week of July will see as many as 5,000 participants in the city for the 37th BC Elders Gathering, hosted by the Lheidli T’enneh Nation at CN Centre.  The gathering will be followed closely by the BC Boys Provincial Soccer Championships with 48 teams slated to attend.

August will see the city host the BC Boys Provincial Baseball Championships, the now-secure World Baseball Challenge, and the BC Northern Exhibition (formerly PGX).  Kelly says while the World Baseball Challenge isn’t a huge draw in terms of people, compared to some of the other events, he says it’s key for the city from an image, perception and profile standpoint.

In addition to these events, Kelly says, "We’re seeing really good numbers in our Visitors Centre these days, lots of RVs on the road.  There’s been three or four times in the last few weeks where we haven’t been able to find hotel rooms for our guests – literally the town is booked up – so Prince George is very busy in early summer and we’re hoping that continues right through."

"It should be positive news for everybody because it has all the spin-off effects," says the Tourism PG CEO.  "It’s really good news for the city as a whole, we’re definitely moving in a quite positive direction this year."