Location: Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Language: English (primary), French (secondary)
Average temperature: During the spring months of March, April, and May the high ranges from 10 to 20 C / 48 to 68 F and the low ranges from –2 to 5 C / 28 to 41 F. During the summer months of June, July, and August the high ranges from 24 to 28 C / 75 to 82 F and the low ranges from 9 to 11 C / 48 to 52 F. During the autumn months of September, October and November, the high ranges from 6 to 22 C / 42 to 71 F and the low ranges from -2 to 6 C / 27 to 43 F. During the winter months of December, January and February the high ranges from 1 to 4 C / 33 to 39 F and the low ranges from -5 to -6 C / 22 to 23 F (Tourism Kelowna, 2019a). Over the course of a year, Kelowna averages over 2,000 hours of sunlight and 28cm of rain (City of Kelowna, 2016).
Currency: Canadian dollar
Population: 142,146 as of January 31, 2020 (Rodriguez, 2020)
Land Area: Kelowna has both land and water area. The city has 214 km2 of land and 48 km2 of water area City of Kelowna. (2016)
History: Started with indigenous peoples, over “6,000 years ago with the Sylix/Okanagan people who thrived on hunting, fishing, gathering, and trading” (Tourism Kelowna, 2020a). Then In 1895 came the settlers, Father Pandosy, Father Richard, and Brother Surel. These men were missionaries who started trading with the Sylix. While I was working at Sperling Vineyards, I was told the history of Father Pandosy and some of the people he brought over from Italy who started the agriculture in Kelowna, which later turned into viticulture as the soils were similar to the soils in Italy from growing wine grapes. “Kelowna became a city in 1905 with a population of 600 people and the town was named Kelowna from the Sylix term “Kim-ach-touch” meaning brown bear but we now consider a grizzly bear (Tourism Kelowna, 2020a). There is a bear statue downtown Kelowna to represent the grizzly bear that named the city. In 1958 a floating bridge was built to connect Kelowna to Westbank, now known as West Kelowna, and was replaced by the William R. Bennett Bridge in 2008 (Brown, 2017).
Nominal GDP: 2018 $620M (Tourism Kelowna, 2019b)
Industries: There are 6 major industries in Kelowna, agriculture, tourism, retail trade, manufacturing, forestry, and construction. Some of the upcoming industries oof Kelowna are information, high technology, film, viticulture, aviation, and health care (Province of British Columbia, 2020)
Visitors: 2018 had 1.9 million visitors with $337 million dollars in visitor spending. The top three motivations for traveling to Kelowna are sightseeing, winery tours, and family vacations. Tourism Kelowna separates its visitors by domestic, US, and international. The domestic markets include BC, Alberta, Ontario, and others which make up 80% of the visitors to Kelowna, The US market includes Washington, California, Texas, and others which make up 6% of the visitors to Kelowna. The international market includes Asia-Pacific, the UK, Germany, and others which make up 13% of visitors to Kelowna. Through the Kelowna airport, their top international markets are Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Cancun, and Puerto Vallarta (Tourism Kelowna, 2019b).
Promotional Video:
Page References:
Brown, L. (2017, May 4). Okanagan Throwback: A ‘then-and-now’ look at Kelowna’s bridge. Kelowna Now.
City of Kelowna. (2016, May 19). Kelowna BC. City of Kelowna. https://www.kelowna.ca/our-community/about-
Province of British Columbia. (2020). Kelowna British Columbia | Trade and Invest BC. Britishcolumbia.Ca.
Rodriguez, M. (2020, January 31). Kelowna’s population soars to 140,000 people. Kelowna Capital News.
https://www.kelownacapnews.com/news/kelownas-population-soars-to-140000-people/
Tourism Kelowna. (2019a). Kelowna Weather | Weather & Climate in Okanagan Valley. Tourismkelowna.com.
https://www.tourismkelowna.com/plan/weather-climate/
Tourism Kelowna. (2019b). Quick Facts.
Tourism Kelowna. (2020a). Kelowna History | Museums, Historic Facts, Legends. Tourismkelowna.com.