Tourism Sun Peaks (TSP) is now the operator of the Sun Peaks Centre, previously managed by Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality (SPMRM).
Taking over the operations, marketing and management of the centre and Sun Peaks Centre Stage, TSP is hoping to increase the amount of use the space gets throughout the year.
As both a pull for tourism as well as a community resource, the Sun Peaks Centre will continue to host the hockey rink in the winter as well as ticketed events in the summer.
“When I… talked to the different stakeholders [Sun Peaks Centre and Sun Peaks Centre Stage] keep coming up again and again as an underutilized asset in our community and being an economic driver for business,” Naomi Kerchinsky, executive director of Tourism Sun Peaks said.
Through conversation with community members, the municipality and Sun Peaks Resort LLP, Kerchinsky said it made the most sense for TSP to run the centre.
Along with hiring a long-term event management contractor and rolling out an event strategy, the goal is to use the centre as an economic driver.
Community and tourism events
“With that long-term event strategy in place, and us looking to become a multi-season destination that’s vibrant in multiple seasons, not just winter, we really saw the Sun Peaks Centre and the Sun Peaks Centre Stage as an anchor as part of this strategy.”
While seeking to attract visitors, the focus is still on balancing the needs of the community and TSP will work closely with SPMRM to ensure that happens.
“We will balance the needs of community and corporate for these facilities,” Kerchinsky said. “The municipality will really think about the community’s needs, because that is their goal. Wearing our tourism hat, we also are going to be thinking about, ‘how are we using these facilities to draw more tourists into the destination?’”
In addition to ticketed events at the centre, a few TSP events to look out for this summer include Rockin’ In the Peaks and the First Friday series at the Clock Tower as well as Friday Night Music.
“We have a killer lineup for this summer,” Kerchinsky said.
Going into the fall, folks can expect the Alpenglow Arts Festival, Paws in the Peaks Dog Festival and more. Other events are unconfirmed but in the works, and a sneak peek of the summer events can be found on TSP’s website.
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