The CEO of Tourism Kamloops says there are some interesting ideas being floated to try and bring in international visitors to these ski hills amid COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Bev DeSantis says one such idea is a bubble system where international visitors will be taken to a ski hill and kept away from local skiers and snowboarders.

“You fly in from somewhere and you are taken onto a bus and you are taken into a bubble area such as Sun Peaks and you don’t leave that area. You do your skiing and you do whatever. You’re kept in a very tight bubble,” she said, on the NL Morning News.

“I don’t know all of the details about it, but it is this sort of creativity and innovation that we need to look at and work with government to see how we can safely, while protecting the citizens of Canada and our cities, to ensure that we also keep our economy going.”

Echoing comments from Kamloops Mayor Ken Christian, DeSantis says the upcoming ski season will be real tell-tale of the ongoing tourism season and the impacts of COVID-19.

“Whistler did announce they are going to be opening this season, I believe Sun Peaks is opening, but I have not heard an exact date. They’re all trying to think of interesting ways to address the COVID-19 situation and still try to open the borders,” she added.

“Without international trans-border visitation, the ski hills especially will have a very difficult time.”

DeSantis noted the proximity of Sun Peaks and Harper Mountain to Kamloops as well as spill off from Whistler and Revelstoke benefits the Tournament Capital greatly during the winter months.