Huge July for Tourism PG
Prince George, B.C. – It’s been a solid summer so far for Tourism Prince George.
CEO Erica Hummel say there was a year over year 2.5% increase in visits to their visitor centre in June then a whopping 19% increase in July (3,804 visitors, August numbers aren’t available yet).
She finds the results surprising.
“You know there is a general trend that people walk into the visitor centre less and less these days because they’re using their mobile phones to answer their questions so to have almost a 20% increase in July is absolutely incredible.”
Hummel attributes the jump to a number of factors including more American visits due to the weakening Canadian dollar, more bike tours coming through town and the busy wildfire season.
She also says their strong summer is a good indicator of what’s happening throughout the city.
“Our numbers are going up, the passenger volume at YXS is also up and the hotel occupancy rates are also going up.”
Year to date however numbers are down over last year but Hummel’s hoping that will change by the end of the year.
“Especially going into the Canada Winter Games. We’ll have a lot more visitors throughout the winter than we normally would.”
Comments
Congrats. Guess this happens when you factor mosquitoes into the visitor population.
I had an embarrassing moment. I was travelling east down 1st Ave and there was at least 120 people(seniors) walking down 1st from George St to the VIA train station. Stay at the Ramada, walk to the train station. That is your impression of PG from that moment on. As a PG lifer, ……I was embarrassed.(LOL.. just needed to share that).
I notice on the highway this year a lot more American plates coming through. Up north its at least one in ten vehicles have an American plate… sometimes as many as 1 in 5.
Yep those clueless about what pg has to offer chime in.
Seamut, do you live on George St ? Pick up your needles.
Just stopping to get directions to somewhere else.
Maybe they are using their smart phones to find the visitor centre.
Might have also been the price off gas in PG this year makes it more viable to take the BC route over the Alberta route?
I live here and I don’t know where the visitor center is anymore since they closed the one on the highway. Fat chance anyone driving up 97 could figure it out without a smart phone or BCAA map just driving through town
The visitors centre (Tourism PG), VIA and IPG are in the same building. The old CN station, across from Alibi’s, just down from Needle Park.
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