Vancouver Island destinations busy as Interior forest fires clear out tourists

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WatchMotels, hotels, campgrounds, and RV parks throughout the Capital Region are all almost fully booked. Mary Griffin reports.

There aren’t a lot of places to stay in Victoria these days.

Motels, hotels, campgrounds, and RV parks throughout the Capital Region are all almost fully booked.

“Compared to how business could be, business is rather good. In fact, it’s bordering on too good,” said Ian Powell, general manager of the Inn at Laurel Point.

For sectors of the island’s tourism industry, last year’s slow summer is a memory as visitors from across Canada are back on the island.

But now getting a room is the hottest ticket in town.

“I would hate anybody to think that we are dealing with a normal summer,” Powell said. “We are not dealing with a normal summer but we are dealing with a summer that’s come off of a pandemic, which has also caused us to have a particular labour situation, and is making life somewhat challenging.”

Many hotels are struggling to fill positions, but the tourists keep coming, like Krzysztok Kudakiewicz from Ottawa.

“We’re very happy to be in Victoria where the skies are clear, and it’s sunny,” he said.

Kudakiewicz said his family was planning on staying in the Okanagan, but smoke convinced them head to the Vancouver Island.

“We were supposed to stop in Kelowna for two nights visiting a friend there,” Kudakiewicz said. “He just told us it’s a campfire here. Don’t bother.”

With six weeks of summer still ahead, it’s going to be a long and busy one on the island.

Mary Griffin

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