PRINCE GEORGE – It’s the summer of camping in BC.
Due to COVID-19’s impacts on travel, British Columbians opted to take their vacations in the province’s own outdoors.
On May 25th, 50,000 people were accessing the Discover Camping reservation system at 7 a.m, the morning in which reservations were launched for the season. In comparison, 2016 had a peak of 28,000 people using the system at one time. On Opening day in 2016, the Province had 7,800 reservations made by 12:30 p.m.
This year, a record was set with 50,749 reservations in one day.
Meanwhile, here in Prince George, outdoor supplies are keeping a few businesses in town busy.
“Starting in May, I think our biggest increase so far has been fishing,” says Rhonda Fredrick, Store Manager at Surplus Herby’s in Prince George. “There’s been a lot of people coming in, first time fishing, looking for the start-up gear. All rods, motors, everything this year has been going like crazy.”
Frederick admits that camping gear has also been hot, with sleeping bags being one of the most popular items they’ve been selling as June is said to have been their best June since opening their 2nd Avenue location.
Frederick feels given the impacts of COVID19, she’s expecting the rest of the summer to have similar sales continue for outdoor gear.
“I think they’ll continue through July. A lot of people getting set up. Definitely, a lot more people are commenting that they’re just camping and fishing this year, and not doing their usual other holidays.”
And due to the frequent rainfall that Prince George and the surrounding area has experienced, Surplus Herby’s also saw an increase in sales for tarps of all things, with Frederick reminding anyone hoping to get outdoors to remember weather-proofing materials.
