55+ Games injecting $3.5 million into Kamloops economy

Aug 25, 2022 | 10:00 AM

Throwing the bowl and getting it close to the jack is not an easy task, but these lawn bowlers are having the time of their lives in Kamloops.

“Oh, this is great,” said Alberta competitor Doug Campbell. “Kamloops is living up to its name of [Tournament Capital of Canada]. We’re very, very pleased to be here.”

As is the City of Kamloops.

The nearly 3,000 athletes in the city this week for the Canada 55+ Games are pumping millions of dollars into the local economy.

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“I think it’s having a great impact on the city. We have close to 3,000 athletes coming to town and their families. It’s just going to generate income for all of Kamloops,” said Canada 55+ Games organizer Duncan Olthuis. “We’re expected a $3.5 million, or even over that, economic impact to our city with the hotel stays, the accommodations, and the hospitality with people going out to restaurants.”

Victoria native Deryk Barker is back in Kamloops for the first time since he visited during Expo ’86 from his homeland England.

“It was a long time ago. I like the city. It’s interesting. It has an interesting downtown. Lots of places to eat and I think we’re going to explore some of the shopping,” he said.

There is not one hotel room available in the city with the 55+ Games in town until Friday. Hotels, more than anything, have benefitted greatly from the event.

“Try to get a hotel room tonight and the rest of this week until Friday, you can’t get anything right now,” said Olthuis. “I think that’s, in big part, to all the people that are coming to this town from out of province, as far away as Newfoundland.”

Barker and his team thankfully booked well in advance to reserve their rooms.

“My teammate booked last September. I think if we tried to book a reservation much closer, it would’ve been really difficult,” he said. “We didn’t have any problems, but I guess other people did. I know our schedule got thrown into a bit of a loop because one team couldn’t get a booking for Monday.”

However, the Games have gone on, hiccups or not, and the athletes are having fun on and off the playing surface.

by Chad Klassen

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