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  • Table of Contents

    • Part 1: First Nations of the Peace River Region
    • Part 2: The Fur Trade Era
    • Part 3: Transportation and Communication
    • Part 4: Old Timers and the Price of Land
    • Part 5: Dawson Creek: The Story of the Community
    • Part 6: Mysteries, Adventures and Indian Legends
    • Part 7: Arts, Crafts and Recreation
    • Part 8: Agriculture
    • Part 9: Church Histories
    • Part 10: Schools
    • Part 11: Health Care
    • Part 12: Industries and Enterprises
    • Part 13: Policing the Peace
    • Part 14: Pouce Coupe, Rolla, and Other South Peace Communities
    • Part 15: Chetwynd and the Fort St. John Area
    • Part 16: The Alberta Peace
    • Part 17: Natural History of the Peace River Region
    • Part 18: Interviews with Old Timers
    • Part 19: Remembering Our Veterans

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BN05-09: Another Record Year for the Tourist Information Centre

Recent History – 1998

By Mark Nielsen, Daily News Staff, Dec. 31, 1998

It was a good year for tourism and Dawson Creek InfoCentre manager Marilyn Croutch has reason to believe that 1999 will be a good one as well. According to recently-compiled statistics, some 39,456 people filed through the info-centre during the course of 1998, and that’s just those who were counted.

“We know we missed [people] in the high parts of summer — 50 to 75 people a day we estimate,” Croutch said. “It’s just impossible to keep up.”

She estimated that at least 2,000 more people visited the info-centre compared to last year, most looking for travel information while a fair number toured the museum and bought souvenirs.

Croutch attributes the rise mainly to the growing number of aging Americans who are finally acting on their dream of visiting Alaska by driving up the Alaska Highway. As well, word is getting out that the Alaska Highway is not as bad as it once was. “It’s not a horror story out there,” she said. “It is a pretty good piece of road.”

While the low Canadian dollar helped, Croutch said the impact may not have been as great as many might have thought. “I don’t think it’s nearly as big a factor with those coming into our country as those potential Canadians leaving. Canadians tended to be inside Canada more,” she said, noting that more Canadians seemed to be traveling to the Yukon and the North West Territories.

Some 15,521 parties passed through the info-centre. Of that total, 3,034 were from the states and provinces that border British Columbia, while another 9,190 were from elsewhere in North America.

Croutch estimates that the percentage of that number who are American is in the high 70s.

The main purpose of the trip for 11,618 of those parties was sightseeing, and 11,135 were heading for destinations outside B.C., most of them going to Alaska.

Some 5,603 were passing through Dawson Creek while another 5,955 stayed 1-3 nights.

Croutch is optimistic that 1999 will also be a good year, especially since the American boycott of Prince Rupert may be tailing off. Many Americans stayed away from Prince Rupert this summer after Canadian fishers angry with the U.S. stand on salmon fishing, prevented an American cruise ship from leaving Prince Rupert for a number of days in 1996.

 

This article is taken from the Peace River Block Daily News, Dawson Creek, with the permission of the publisher. The Daily News retains all rights relating to this material. The information in this article is intended solely for research or general interest purposes.

« BN05-08: Dawson Creek Assessment Rises

BN05-10: 1998 – The Year in Review »

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