Positive / Negative Impacts of Tourism

Positives

  • Excellent employment opportunities and economic growth (InterVISTAS Consulting Inc, 2017).
  • Creating ways for humans and nature to coexist, taking the problems that humans have caused to wildlife and using tourism to educate the public, in this case creating a wildlife rehab (Tamminga, 2020). One big example is Kangaroo Creek Farm that is located behind the Kelowna airport that has educational aspects to the animals along with shorter open and closing times to give the animals a break. Another example is the Myra Canyon Trestles as they have signage about the history of the railroad, now a biking and walking path.
  • Sustainability providing tips through site (Tourism Kelowna, 2020c). Kelowna has a large focus on sustainability, more specifically in the visitor center by the use of technology and the refillable water station n the building.
  • Local focus, more specifically in the visitor center they sell items made in Kelowna where the business that created the item receives a commission. This includes clothing, art, and souvenirs sold at the visitor center.
  • Economic Impact of Tourism in Kelowna (Tourism Kelowna, 2020b):
    • $1.25 Billion Total Economic Output
    • $620 Million in Total GDP
    • $337 Million Visitor Spending
    • $142 Million in Tax Revenues
    • 11,890 Total Jobs Created

Negatives

  • With the pandemic, tourists are flocking to Kelowna and that is having an influx of outbreaks (CBC News, 2020).
  • Building a hotel that will take away parking (Lowe, 2020). There is a plan to create the area near the Kelowna Visitor Center to make it a completely pedestrian area. This is going to create some issues as it eliminates parking within close proximity to the center.
  • Having more tourists and people enjoying nature but not following the Leave No Trace protocols has resulted in negative effects on animals around parks. Such as a bear being euthanized because it was drawn towards human garbage (Berry, 2020). Many wildlife spotting has also occurred in residential areas as they back onto parks and mountains and will continue to be a larger problem if Leave No Trace is not being applied.
  • As more people move to shorefront homes it is causing environmental damage to the Okanagan waterside (Gaffney, 2017; Smith, 2017).
  • The development of housing complexes to accommodate the growing population is causing local neighborhoods to feel they are losing their sense of community (Emmerik, 2020). There have been many residential developments that have been taking away from the natural environment and creating more complexes.

Page References:

Berry, C. (2020, October 9). Bear euthanized at Okanagan trailer park after getting into garbage | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan’s News Source. Infotel.Ca. https://infotel.ca/newsitem/bear-euthanized-at-okanagan-trailer-park-after-getting-into-garbage/it77624

CBC News. (2020, July 14). Marketing Kelowna as a tourism hot spot moves forward, despite recent COVID-19 cases | CBC News. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tourism-kelowna-covid-1.5649709

Emmerik, K. V. (2020, July 7). Scaled-down Kelowna development proposal still too big, says neighbourhood association. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/7150718/kelowna-pandosy-development-proposal/

Gaffney, B. (2017, July 14). Development further erodes natural state of Okanagan Lake foreshore. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/3599251/development-further-erodes-natural-state-of-okanagan-lake-foreshore/

InterVISTAS Consulting Inc. (2017). Economic Impact of Tourism in Kelowna and the Greater Kelowna Area, B.C. PREPARED FOR Tourism Kelowna. https://www.investkelowna.com/application/files/2614/8901/6250/Economic_Impact_of_Tourism_in_Kelowna_2016.pdf

Lowe, T. (2020, June 17). ‘It’s the parkade that is way overpowering the building’: area residents concerned with proposed Kelowna hotel. Global News. https://globalnews.ca/news/7078844/its-the-parkade-that-is-way-over-powering-the-building-area-residents-concerned-with-proposed-kelowna-hotel/

Smith, J. (2017, September 20). Environmental concerns shore up. Kelowna Capital News. https://www.kelownacapnews.com/news/environmental-concerns-shore-up/

Tamminga, M. (2020, November 28). Okanagan group look for property to house wildlife rehab centre. Kelowna Capital News. https://www.kelownacapnews.com/news/okanagan-group-look-for-property-to-house-wildlife-rehab-centre/

Tourism Kelowna. (2020b). Report to the Community | Tourism Kelowna. Tourism Kelowna. https://www.tourismkelowna.com/community/report-to-the-community/

Tourism Kelowna. (2020c). Tips for Enjoying Kelowna Responsibly | Sustainable Travel. Tourism Kelowna. https://www.tourismkelowna.com/plan/explore-kelowna-sustainably/tips-for-enjoying-kelowna-responsibly/