Local economy booming thanks to large events

The combination of the swimming championships and BCNE has created a situation for local businesses that has seen great traffic thanks to the thousands of additional visitors in the city.

“6000 people, that’s 2000 athletes that are in hotel rooms along with their family and friends that are coming to support what’s happening at the aquatic center. And then it’s really great for them to also go and check out BCNE between races and cheering and things like that,” said Tourism Prince George’s Interim CEO Carmen Herman.

“It’s just a great way to pull people in with a sport, and then they get to explore some fun activities that our community loves as well,” she continued.

Hotels, like Best Western Plus, have certainly enjoyed all the additional visitors. the hotel’s General Manager Gianina Gaspar says it is currently at 100% occupancy, up from the 85-90% it saw in 2024.

“This is a huge moment that we are experiencing with high occupancy because not only locals are coming, not only B.C. guests, guests across Canada too. We even have people coming from Manitoba, Alberta, which is great. And not only for my business, I’m guessing every hotel in town is high occupancy,” Gaspar said.

More business means more money circulating within the local economy, as Gaspar said the hotel has to staff more people like cleaners and receptionists to keep up with high demand, putting more money in community member’s pockets.

“If our staff is getting more money, this money is going to the local services because they are spending the money there and going back to the community. So this is a good thing, like a ripple effect happening for everyone,” Gaspar said.

Everyone coming to the city because of the swimming championships and BCNE fill the hotel rooms and restaurants, but Gaspar also highlighted the importance of the Amazing Race Canada, saying that kind of spotlight on the city could pay off greatly.

“These things are really good for local tourism here, attracting people just to check what is happening there,” Gaspar said.

“People see the network, social networks, they always look and say, ‘oh, there is Prince George, let’s go there. And Prince George is a beautiful city. We are surrounded by nature, landscapes, and sometimes even in this neighborhood, you can see bears walking and the kids have an amazing time seeing how bears look like when they walk far away,” Gaspar continued.

The events themselves further add to improving the city’s reputation, which in turn could continue to attract even more events.

“A lot of people are surprised when they come here and see our venues and how great they are, the size, they’re competitive, our athletes are competitive, and that we have the space to host these large sporting events,” Herman said.

“While they have their event here and they work with our local volunteers, they see the passion that the volunteers have and how well organized an event they can put on. So that’s another huge factor on hosting an event, so they love seeing that we have the capacity of the venues,” Herman continued.

Both the BCNE and BCSSA Provincial Championships will conclude on August 17.

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by Tommy Osborne

Local economy booming thanks to large events

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