TIABC Voice of Tourism Newsletter – February 27, 2026

“Are you a 250 or a 604?”

I get asked that more often than you might think. Usually in the small rural town I have called home for the better part of thirty years. The tone is light, but the question carries weight. It is shorthand for identity. For belonging. For where you plant your feet. My answer is always the same.

“Both.”

You see, while Merritt has been home for decades, those years were interspersed with overseas moves and time spent living in Vancouver, where I still reside part time. In preparation for a life rooted in both places, I did something practical and symbolic. I have two phone numbers attached to my cell phone. One 250. One 604.

Both connected to me. Much like these two places. They are wildly different. And I love them equally.

Merritt takes my breath away every time I round that familiar corner on the Coquihalla and the rolling grasslands open up in front of me. It is expansive and grounding all at once.

Downtown Vancouver, with its ocean air and mountain backdrop, makes me breathe deeply in a different way. It hums. It moves. It feels electric.

Both places offer remarkable sights, smells, tastes, and experiences. Both serve residents and visitors in ways that are distinct and valuable. And that is where this gets interesting.

When we talk about visitors to British Columbia, we often reference the total number. More than 20 million people visit our province annually. That headline number is impressive. It should be. But we rarely break down where those visitors are spending their time and dollars. The numbers paint an interesting picture.

Approximately 60 % of the businesses that cater to tourists in British Columbia are located in the Lower Mainland. When you remove Vancouver Island from the equation, the proportion of tourism businesses serving the rest of the province drops even further.

Let us say roughly 30% of tourism businesses are supporting visitors across the remainder of BC. Now consider this. Over 95% of British Columbia’s geography exists outside the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. 60% of tourism infrastructure concentrated in a small geographic footprint. 30% spread across the vast majority of the province. To some, that data may signal imbalance. To others, it may highlight market concentration.

To me, it spells one word. OPPORTUNITY. Opportunity for rural communities. Opportunity for interior regions. Opportunity for small towns with big stories. Opportunity for Indigenous communities. Opportunity to distribute economic benefit more broadly.

Tourism already generates significant revenue and contributes meaningfully to British Columbia’s GDP

annually. It is one of our most powerful economic drivers. But the geographic distribution of that activity suggests there is room to grow beyond the obvious hubs.

The question is not whether visitors want to come to BC. They already do. The question is how we create pathways for them to explore more of it.

How do we ensure that the rolling grasslands, the mountain valleys, the lakes, the cultural experiences, the culinary offerings, and the outdoor adventures beyond the Lower Mainland are visible, accessible, and supported? How do we help visitors see the 1000s of BC experiences waiting for them?

Being both a 250 and a 604 has given me a front-row seat to two very different tourism ecosystems. Both are valuable. Both deserve attention.

In addition to marketing and promotion, which are critically important, there must also be clear strategies that help investors see the potential. The opportunity is not just in attracting visitors, but in attracting investors to develop the infrastructure that complements the natural tourism inventories that already exists across most of British Columbia.

We already have the foundations. The landscapes are there. The trails are there. The lakes, rivers, and mountains are already doing their part. What is needed in many regions is the complementary infrastructure that allows these experiences to scale thoughtfully. Accommodations. Transportation connectivity. Visitor services. Investment pathways. Community planning that aligns with tourism growth.

The opportunity is not to build something from nothing. It is to build strategically on what already exists. And this is not an either-or conversation.

There are still meaningful opportunities for growth in the Lower Mainland. Continued investment in infrastructure, innovation, capacity, and visitor experience will remain essential in one of Canada’s primary gateways.

In the rest of BC, the opportunity may look different, but it is no less significant. We need strategies that actively support investment across the rest of BC, unlocking the potential of regions that already have extraordinary natural assets but require the right infrastructure and capital to fully participate in the tourism economy.

The future of tourism in BC depends on investing wisely in both.

Amber Papou

CEO, TIABC