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July weather hits tourism traffic

After a strong visitor season this spring, the cool rainy weather of July reduced tourism travel to Summerland and the Okanagan.

After a strong visitor season this spring, the cool rainy weather of July reduced tourism travel to Summerland and the Okanagan.

Then in August the visitor counts rose almost to the 2011 levels, according to the Summerland Chamber of Economic Development and Tourism.

“Tourism numbers have fluctuated this year with spring visits (April, May, June) to the Summerland Visitor Centre strong,” said Chamber Manager Christine Petkau.

“Those months showed an increase of 23 per cent over 2011 numbers of visits for the same period and 18 per cent higher than the Thompson Okanagan regional network of visitor centres as a whole.”

July visits to visitor centres were down 10 per cent throughout the region, and 15 per cent in Summerland.

“This decline has primarily been attributed to poor weather conditions.”

August numbers for visitors to the Summerland Visitor Centre were slightly reduced by 2.5 per cent in Summerland and 3.3 per cent in the region compared to 2011 visits.

From January to August this year 7,460 people visited the Summerland Visitor Centre, compared with 8,531 for the same period in 2011 “with the decline coming from the low July numbers,” said Petkau.

These figures do not include online inquiries or use of the online visitor guide.