Travel Writers Visit to See What Northern B.C. Has to Offer
Prince George, B.C. – Northern B.C. has been the focus of a number of visitors who are writing columns and reports for travel magazines about some of the wonders of the region.
“They are looking for more, fresh, sort of off the grid stuff which we have up here” says Blaine Estby, Northern B.C. Tourism Media Relations Representative .
Estby says that as of the end of June, there have been more than 30 stories, articles and features written on Northern B.C.’s tourism opportunities. “In the winter there was stuff around Shames Mountain because of the Mountain Co-op ownership group in Terrace, Smithers with the Hank and Evelyn back counry ski area, we’ve had the LA Times just through here, which included a stop in Prince George as they were on a three thousand mile trip to to Alaska. We’ve had BBC Travel, into the Great Bear Rainforest, and the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary in Prince Rupert is a huge draw for people.”
Not all articles have been published yet, but Estby says the stories bode well for vacation planning for this winter and next year. “One kind of interesting one , is we have Tumbler Ridge, which has global geo park status for the dinosaurs there. So we actually did a piece for the Metro newspaper which tied in with the June 12th opening of Jurrasic World, so Tumbler Ridge was listed as one of the top five places in Canada for dinosaurs.”
Estby says there are new and interesting attractions being developed all the time and points to the newly opened Northern Lights Estate Winery as an example “People are already calling me about that. It’s the most northern winery in British Columbia and it’s on the actual official wine route. We have multiple craft brewers in the northern region Wheelhouse Brewery in Prince Rupert, Sharewood Mountain in Terrace, I believe Cariboo Brewmaster is now making a craft beer, there’s one in Quesnel and Three Ranges in Valemount. I just think Northern British Columbia is a lot more unique with vast open space that people are really looking for when they are talking about travel destinations.”
Estby says while the bulk of travelers are from B.C, Alberta and the northwest of the U.S, word is getting out about the special features of this part of the world “The travel media visitors hailed from Germany, India, China, all over the U.S. We’re getting quite a bit of interest from across the board.”
Estby expects this to be a pretty positive year for travellers from the United States because of the value of our dollar “I think it’s going to be a very good year for British Colubia as a whole because the dollar is low. The dollar works in our favour”
Comments
Well I can tell you what Prince George does not have anymore and that is a city dumping station for campers, motorhomes etc. Even Hundred mile, and Quesnel have one just off the main road.
Send all these travel writers to Likely, BC for a personal tour of where Hazeltine Creek empties into Quesnel Lake. I hope some of those travel writers actual see this comment and start asking some questions! Because more than a few of us don’t have the fortitude, or backbone, to question anything our government or industry does.
Before anybody else gets a chance to say it, I’m going to beat you all to the punch and I’m going to say it…..!
It’s Harper’s fault, waaaaaah!
Man, do I feel better now! ;-)
Maybe we should put in a charge station that caters to Chevy Volt owners. That should draw some tourists.
Are there no serious suggestions? I have some:
1) Ancient Forest
2) Barkerville
3) Bowron Lakes
4) Jet boating excursions (Nechako, Stuart, Tachie, etc.)
5) Salmon and steelhead fishing in the Skeena watershed
6) Stuart, Trembleur, Takla lakes
7) Spatsizi
8) Muskwa-Kechika
I can’t think of much in the way of urban experiences that would serve as a drawing card, but there are most certainly natural attractions in the large area called “Northern BC”.
I think that urban centres could take advantage of their proximity to those places, even if they only serve as a 1-3 day stopover point. Most every city has enough unique things that some sort of package or experience could be built for tourists for that purpose.
Further to NMG’s suggestions, I add:
1. Pidherney and Otway Mountain Biking Trails;
2. Forests for the World and Greenway trails;
3. UNBC;
4. Exploration Place;
5. Two Rivers Art Gallery;
6. Purden Lake and Ski Resorts;
7. LC Gunn trail;
8. Fort George Park;
9. Nancy O’s, Copper Pig, Cimo and other local restaurant;
10. Books & Company and ArtSpace.
Lots of things to suggest for travel writers.
No way, I say show them how “SuperNatural British Columbia” really is… take them on a Hazeltine Creek tour…. LMAO.
www. desmog.ca/2014/08/14/photos-i-went-mount-polley-mine-spill-site
Copy and paste the link to your address bar, then delete the space between the www. and the d
Sophic I wonder how you’d make out without products manufactured from minerals produced from mines.
Your Prius would be the first to go – the major elements of that massive battery are all made from minerals… your computer… full of minerals. Your iPhone… gone.
But then again it would be quieter and more peaceful around here …
Once again for all those who do not know the location of where you live, it is CENTRAL British Columbia.
Funny, in all the years I hiked & climbed in BC, I’ve come across far more natural devastation than what the photos of the Mt. Polley disaster shows. Creeks that had blocked off way up the mountain & the let go, avalanches, blowdown, rockslides. Sophic, I’m not suggesting that Mt. Polley was not a horrible thing to happen, but put it in perspective of the forces that nature can unleash, small beans.
To add to NMG & bornandbreds’ lists; Any of the hiking areas around McBride, particularly Blueberry Pass
; Murray Range in the Pine Pass
; Stuart Lake & Mt. Pope (climbing, hiking & mt. biking)
; Babine Lake
; The McGregors & North Rockies
Don’t forget, PG has a rhubarb winery.
As BCGrog goes into the same old tired “Without mines we would have nothing” routine we hear from Oil & Gas advocates, without oil or gas we would have no automobiles, computers, etc. yada, yada, yada.
How about I spare you the embarrassment and just throw out my position; regulate the mining industry more, increase mine inspections, increase fines and penalties for non-compliance.
Hey… how about that, and there would still be mines operating. Your all or nothing approach is a lame one, I am surprised you did not use the “we would be back to living in caves” routine again. What is it with you and some of the others on this discussion board? I make a suggestion that we move towards alternative energy sources and immediately it a “what if we stopped using fossil fuels tomorrow” senario. Doesn’t seem to matter what the topic, its always the fear about what we will lose response if we immediately stopped mining, or fossil fuel extraction, etc.
detoe44, you are hilarious, do you not know the difference between a preventable man made disaster and a natural one? I am suprised you did not use the Mount Saint Helens volcanic explosion as an example of destruction. We simply cannot “prevent” natural disasters, but with proper safety and environmental regulations and “enforcement” measures in place we can prevent man made disasters like the Mount Polley tailings spill.
stunned sage, have you ever been to Quesnel lake or Likely? I spent 5 days there last week. The only thing you would see from the dam breech is a much wider creek. I am not a fan of dam’s breaking but The rest of the lake is as stunning as before. You are an ignorant spamer that has gone into the stupid zone. Who is paying you? You are not from PG, you show up and relentlessly post tired anti- government swill. Facts never cloud your judgment. You are clearly someone’s troll. Come clean and tell us who.
Sophic, the point I was trying to make is that the devastation that was made by the Mt. Polley mine is small compared to real natural disasters & that in a few years you would be hard pressed to see said devastation. As dow7501 pointed out, already nature has rebounded. Had you taken the time to read my entire post instead of drawing conclusions that just are not there, you would have read that I wrote that the Mt. Polley disaster was “a horrible thing to happen”. You also would have noted that unlike you I have seen first hand, natural devastation & yes I do know the difference. The only similarity is that nature is quite resilient & rebounds quickly.
Sophie, just how stupid are you? The Mount Polley breach has been waiting to happen since the day the tailing pond and mine were created!
Why, you might ask?
Let me explain it to you as I understand it! There was a weak layer, a weak undetected layer beneath the constructed tailings pond! It was not detected by the engineers at the time of the approval and construction. Undoubtedly, this must be because the engineers were no where near as smart as you THINK you are!!
So, who do we blame? The engineering firm and it’s engineers? The Government of the day that approved the mine. I believe that was the NDP, not Christy Clark and the BC Liberals and certainly not our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper and his Conservative Government!
Please tell us, Oh Wise One Sophie, when was the last time that you were out to the mine site, to the community of Likely and the Quesnel Lake?
Why don’t you hop on your horse and ride out there with your camera! Take some current pictures instead of posting a link to pictures from a year ago, pictures taken right after the breach. I suspect that if you were to visit the site today, you would already see plant life beginning to appear along the sides of Hazeltine Creek. In spite of your fear-mongering and worst case scenarios, nature finds a way and I suspect that that is already happening at the mine site and in the creek’s valley!
Sophie, I say this is the nicest way possible, your credibility, as I said in an earlier post, is going, going, going, soon to be gone! We should be so lucky as to have you leave with it!
Cheers!
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