The General Manager at the BC Wildlife Park says an almost three month closure last year meant a drop in about 50,000 visitors.

However, despite the drop in visitors, Glenn Grant says it wasn’t a bad year for the park, noting he’s grateful for all of the support from Kamloops-area residents.

“In 2019, we had a 119,800 visitors which was a record year for us. And then when COVID hit and 2020 came about, we were closed for ten weeks as protocols were being put in place,” he said. “When we reopened, obviously we did not do any of the events and our attendance dropped to 68,000 people.”

Grant says he’s hoping to see a bounce back this year, as the drop in visitors meant about $600,000 less in revenue for the park.

“Being open daily and having our events is extremely important to the park financially because the events are what actually drives the attendance, while tourism drives the summer attendance,” Grant said.

The park usually sees a number of tour bus visitors and travellers from other parts of Canada and the province in a normal year. However, with travel restrictions in place, Grant says he estimates about 90 per cent of the 68,000 visitors were Kamloops-area residents.

“It wasn’t really a bad year, but it was definitely a different year,” he said.

(Photo via BC Wildlife Park)