Rain, flooding and negative media reports all contributed to a poor June and July for many businesses in the Shuswap.
A cursory survey by the Observer confirmed that flooding and its aftermath frightened tourists away, more so in Sicamous than Salmon Arm.
At the Salmon Arm Chamber of Commerce, manager Corryn Grayston confirms that the Visitor Info Centre received many inquiries from would-be visitors who believed communities all around the lake were under water, including Salmon Arm.
“I think the misconception out there was it was all of the Shuswap. We had a tremendous amount of people calling, saying that Salmon Arm was underwater and even Scotch Creek. People had booked cabins and were wondering if the roads were passable.”
Despite the misinformation, she heard anecdotally from some bed and breakfast operators that June had a slow start but they experienced a good July and August.
“Some had some of their best years so far. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It was a difficult start for everyone, and the media, with the flooding, certainly didn’t help.”
With the warm September weather, Grayston is pleased to report that the visitor centre is still seeing a steady stream of tourists.
“They’re already coming for the salmon..., although the salmon are not here yet,” she said. “Camping is still very much alive and kicking with the type of tourist coming through right now. Seniors, Europeans, Brits are very much actively in the area touring about.”
Grayston plans to do a survey of membership to find out more specifically how Salmon Arm businesses fared this summer.
At Downtown Salmon Arm, manager Joanne Mason said she’s heard a range of comments.
“I think, by and large, the impact of the flooding, that was a huge detractor for this season... People came later this year. Some businesses fared exceptionally well and others did not.”
Corrinne Cross, executive director at the Sicamous and District Chamber of Commerce, said the poor season there began with all the rain in June.
“Then with our event on June 23 (the flooding at Two Mile), it came to a crashing halt. Then the subsequent water problems, and the subsequent Global TV bad media, we took quite a hit.”
Cross has been working on an impact analysis, which indicates Sicamous businesses, generally, were down 35 to 60 per cent this July over the same period last year.
However, Sicamous launched a “We are open” campaign after the flooding to encourage tourists to visit. Big tanks of potable water were brought in and plumbed into water lines so restaurants were able to prepare food safely, make ice and serve water.
“August was very good. It was not enough, though – percentages were up from last year, which was not a good year.”
Two businesses closed, but one new one moved into one of the vacant spots.
Cross said problems with media coverage began when, in the mass confusion immediately following the flooding, an Alberta resident whose vehicle was destroyed was told emergency funding was for B.C. residents only.
“That got rectified right away,” she said, with steps such as out-of-province vouchers and the Junior B Eagles’ bus shuttling people back to Calgary.
“We know what pays the bills and keeps us open,” she said of the Alberta tourists valued by Sicamous.
Along with the spread of that story, Cross said news networks would pose in the street in the most flooded area to give their reports.
Greg Kyllo, president of both Twin Anchors Marine and TA Structures, points out that many businesses earn 70 per cent of their revenue in about 10 weeks.
“If you lose four weeks of that, it’s a huge number,” he says, estimating it’s about 35 per cent of gross revenues for many.
While September looks comparable to the year previous, the business community has definitely been hit hard.
“I know a lot of businesses, last year was tough. They were looking for a good year this year to justify staying in business this year. We probably won’t see the full effects until this winter or next year.”
While the houseboat business has been slow in the past four years, he says, at Twin Anchors manufacturing operation, which creates worker accommodation primarily for oil and gas companies, sales were up 60 per cent this year over last.
Twin Anchors houseboats, which operate both out of Salmon Arm and Sicamous, didn’t see the drop some other businesses did. Todd Kyllo, president of operations, said houseboat rental revenues were down only slightly.
“For us, for our company, we were down about five per cent from last year.
We were pretty lucky in that we could still operate during all the mayhem that was going on.”