As many as 615,600 visitors spent an estimated $95.2 million in Squamish in 2018, according to the latest Squamish Tourism Impact Study report.
As many as 788 direct and indirect tourism jobs were created in town in 2018, the study finds.
The study was jointly funded by the province, the District of Squamish, Squamish Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Squamish, and will be presented to council on Tuesday, March 10.
The estimated 615,000 visitors represent a 290% increase in visitation when compared to 2008.
The study attributes this growth to several factors, including a healthy economy, the Sea to Sky Gondola, better marketing by Tourism Squamish, and an increase in accommodation supply due to growth in vacation rentals.
“The May 2014 opening of the Sea to Sky Gondola located, in part, within Stawamus Chief Provincial Park and Protected Area and adjacent to popular Shannon Falls Provincial Park has contributed to both a large increase in visitor numbers in Squamish,” says the report.
Here are some key highlights from the report:
Overnight visitors accounted for a 58% share of total visitors to Squamish, with those staying in commercial accommodations accounting for 91% and the remaining 9% visiting the homes of friends and relatives.
Of overnight visitors staying in commercial accommodations, 47% stayed in hotels and motels, while 13% in short-term rentals, and 40% in campgrounds and RV parks.
Locally, the tourism sector supported 788 jobs, and $35.5 million in employment income.
The tourism sector contributed $26.6 million in total tax revenues in 2018 to all three levels of government, with about $2.1 million going to the local government.
Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley visitors make up for about 41 per cent of total day visitors to town. About 54. 1 per cent of day visitors to the Squamish area are from either Europe, the US, other parts of Canada and a few other countries.
These day visitors from Europe and other distant areas, however, are those who have stayed overnight in Greater Vancouver and Whistler.
The main purpose of the trip for about 45.6% of visitors was sightseeing, followed by hiking, mountain biking and riding the gondola.
Visitors from other countries made up the greatest proportion of overnight visitors to Squamish accounting for 52% of total overnight visitors.
Overall, overnight visitors were more likely to pursue more adventurous activities, with 21.5% indicating that rock climbing was their primary purpose, followed by 13.6% citing mountain biking.
New tourism accommodation to meet growing demand, developing a way to attract visitors in non-peak seasons, and to further developer meetings and conferences events are some of the suggestions offered by consultants.
The report has yet to be reviewed by the district and other partners who funded it.
Stuart says
Hi Gagandeep,
Did you know that Squamish planning department is pursuing option C and getting council to approve option C to ban all air bnb units in squamish.
Even staffs own report which you can find here https://squamish.civicweb.net/FileStorage/AF8A46B08C8B4454A26630B0D5D35C23-RTC%20-%20Short-term%20Rentals%20(combined).pdf
States that approving option C will negatively affect the tourism sector of squamish and possible cause economic loss and job loss. So why is the planning department pursuing this Option C so aggressively? This planning department is so out of touch with the public they are just pursing their own left wing utopia agenda. You need write an article on this and shed some light on this.
” Squamish Tourism Sector Economic Impact Analysis was recently completed through a joint partnership between the District of Squamish, Tourism Squamish and the Squamish Chamber of Commerce (currently in draft form). The analysis found that STRs account for approximately 34% of the total current tourist accommodation supply (excluding campgrounds) and that 7% of all visitors (including day-trippers) were short-term rental visitors (41,600 out of a total of 615,600 visitors in 2018). STR visitors accounted for 19% of the total direct spend by all Squamish visitors (overnight and day-trippers). Direct spending by STR visitors totaled $18.2 million in 2018. See Attachment 1 for further details. Based on the Tourism Sector Economic Impact Analysis, Option C has the potential to negatively impact this sector. With the enactment of Option C, the inventory of STRs could decrease, reducing the supply of tourist accommodation. As visitation is linked to available accommodation supply, visitation and direct visitor spending may decrease, which in turn impacts employment in the tourism sector. Typical economic spin-off effects would also be felt, via reduced spending on household goods and services, and overall potential decreases in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and gross output.
Visitation: 1.3 jobs, $57,700 of employment income and $81,500 of GDP in Squamish were supported by every 1,000 visitors to Squamish in 2018. •Visitor Spending: 8.3 jobs were supported per $1 million of direct tourism spend in Squamish in 2018. More subtly, in terms of impacts to accommodation inventory and visitation, Option C targets the STR segments that supply the most-steady and in-demand inventory. Many visitors desire self-contained accommodation with kitchens, storage and other amenities that are better fulfilled by the STR model, not necessarily by the traditional hotel model or renting a room in an occupied house (share model).