“Super, Natural.” British Columbia’s marketing slogan perfectly captures the essence of Canada’s westernmost province, where Mother Nature created some of her finest work. While Greater Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler command much of the group market, B.C. demands further exploration to the north and east.
An emerging meetings and retreat destination well worth discovering is the Thompson Okanagan region, a tantalizing topographical mix of desert, mountains and lakes located halfway between Vancouver and the Canadian Rockies. Abundant with year-round sporting, recreational and leisure activities, the Okanagan Valley is most notably the birthplace of Canada’s globally preeminent icewine industry, first produced in 1974 at a winery on the western shores of Lake Okanagan.
“Uniquely positioned to attract a variety of groups, our appeal as a meeting destination comes from our proximity and diversity,” says Ellen Walker-Matthews, North American marketing experiences specialist for the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association (www.thompsonokanagan.com). “We are close enough to major metropolitan centers but far enough away to be viewed as the hidden gem of British Columbia, featuring a mix of excellent meeting venues and activities unique in the Pacific Northwest.”
With daily nonstop flights from Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Seattle into the region’s main city of Kelowna, key group venues—significantly, all resort properties—include the Watermark Beach Resort (www.watermarkbeachresort.com), Penticton Lakeside Resort (www.penticonlakesideresort.com), Spirit Ridge Resort (www.spiritridge.ca), Delta Grand Okanagen Resort (www.deltahotels.com) and Delta Sun Peaks Resort (www.deltahotels.com).
Carved into a cliff overlooking Lake Okanagan and backed by the Monashee Mountains, Sparkling Hill Resort (www.sparklinghill.com) is a notable recent addition helping enhance awareness of the region. Owned by the famed Swarovski family of Austria, the European-influenced resort features $10 million in Swarovski Crystal elements, an award-winning spa and a variety of flexible meeting and function spaces.
As Walker-Matthews says of the region’s appeal, “it’s a sensory experience not to be missed.”
