As British Columbia experiences some of its strongest tourism growth in years, Invermere is receiving $164,450 from the Province’s Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) to support its tourism industry.

Through the Province’s RMI, Invermere has received a total of $1,647,105 since 2009 in funding toward projects including (but not limited to): Cenotaph Park renovations, Kinsmen Beach improvements, a mountain valley shuttle, signage and support for a number of events and festivals throughout the year.

The RMI provides $10.5 million each year to help eligible resort-oriented municipalities to develop and enhance their tourism infrastructure and amenities. RMI communities include Whistler, Fernie, Kimberley, Golden, Harrison Hot Springs, Invermere, Osoyoos, Radium Hot Springs, Revelstoke, Rossland, Sun Peaks, Tofino, Ucluelet and Valemount.

Since the RMI’s inception in 2006, more than $108.6 million has been invested in tourism infrastructure and programs to support local and regional tourism economies in the 14 participating communities.

Quotes:

Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour –

“B.C.’s tourism industry is experiencing incredible growth. It’s helping to create jobs and is one of the reasons why our province has the leading economy in Canada. Resort Municipality Initiative funding ensures qualifying resort communities have the resources they need to provide a world-class traveller experience. It’s an important step toward making sure visitors return to our province for years to come, supporting businesses and keeping our economy diverse, strong and growing.”

Gerry Taft, mayor of Invermere –

“Tourism is a very important part of the economy for Invermere and area (including Panorama Resort). The RMI program allows us to invest in key pieces of infrastructure and programming which improve both the visitor experience and also make our community a great place for year-round residents to call home. With this current and future RMI funding we are looking forward to continued improvements on our way-finding and entrance signage, much needed upgrades to boat launching facilities, increased funding for our successful year-round events program, and continued funding of a partner on a shuttle bus between Invermere and Panorama.”

Quick Facts:

• In 2015, 4.9 million international visitors came to B.C. – about an 8% increase compared to 2014.
• The number of total overnight international visitors to B.C. in 2016 so far (January to July) surpassed the three million mark (3,200,503) for an increase of 12.5% over the same period last year.
• Tourism provides a job for roughly one out of every 15 people employed in B.C.
• RMI supports the province’s tourism strategy, Gaining the Edge, and the BC Jobs Plan.

Learn More:

To learn more about the RMI, please visit: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/topic.page?id=30A40BDA6D8346798E15C6050063F719

BC Jobs Plan: http://www.bcjobsplan.ca/