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Federal Tourism Minister coming to the N

Federal Tourism Minister coming to the North Okanagan

May 15, 2019 | 4:54 PM

Federal Tourism Minister Mélanie Joly will make a stop in the North Okanagan next week to speak with rural tourism operators.

Joly will talk about the future of the tourism industry and the federal tourism strategy at a chamber breakfast on May 23 in Armstrong.

“We are excited that Minister Joly is visiting the North Okanagan and is taking time to meet directly with tourism operators to learn about their success stories but also what challenges they face as businesses,” said Patti Noonan, executive director of the Armstrong Spallumcheen Chamber of Commerce.

“Tourism contributes significantly to the economic health of the North Okanagan, and it will be important to hear from Minister Joly about federal programs that can assist our members with key issues such as accessing labour and marketing themselves,” she added.

Roughly 22,177 tourists visited Armstrong, Spallumcheen, Enderby and Lumby in 2018.

The Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce says the economic impact of tourism was $190,612,325 in 2016.

“The visit of Minister Joly is a great opportunity for our chamber to work with our counterparts in Armstrong Spallumcheen as the benefits of tourism know no boundaries,” said Dione Chambers, general manager of the Greater Vernon Chamber of Commerce.

Joly was elected member of Parliament for Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Que. in 2015 and served as minister of Canadian heritage from 2015 to 2018. In 2018, she was named minister of tourism, official languages and La Francophonie. Prior to entering federal politics, she earned an honours bachelor of law from Université de Montréal and ran for mayor of Montreal in 2013.