CAMPBELL RIVER, B.C.-It was a good year to own a hotel in Campbell River.
Throughout 2017 the city’s average hotel occupancy was 75.4 per cent, peaking with more than 90 per cent occupancy between July and September. That was the highest hotel occupancy percentage of anywhere in British Columbia.
With the high number of hotel guests came more than $403,000 in Municipal and Regional District Tax, which the city is planning to use on offsetting the money it spends on marketing Campbell River as a tourist destination.
Last year was the first year the MRDT was collected and the city expects it to bring in even more this year as it was only collected between March and December in 2017. The three per cent hotel tax was approved by the province in 2016. The numbers come from a recent report from Campbell River’s Economic Development Officer Rose Klukas to city council.
