Tourism Kamloops Insights: July 2026
Mary Putnam
A closer look at Kamloops’ July 2026 visitor data and the story behind the headline numbers.
By The Numbers
| Total Visitor Trips | 146,767 (+9.0% year over year) |
| Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) | $174.10 (+8.5% year over year) |
Total Hospitality Revenue | $17.71 million (+8.6% year over year) |
Average Daily Rate | $204.52 (+5.8% year over year) |
Accommodation Occupancy | 85.1% (+2.6% year over year) |
Average Website Session Duration | 2m 46s (+29.7% year over year) |
July's visitor data highlights peak summer strength across Kamloops, with overall visitation rising to 146,767 total trips—a 9.0% increase year over year. Total lodging revenue reached $17.71 million, up 8.6% year over year. Unlike months driven solely by rate increases, July’s revenue growth was balanced across both higher average daily rates and increased room night demand.
The domestic market served as the main engine for July's volume growth, with Canadian trips expanding 11.9% to 127,697 trips and total Canadian visitors climbing 12.8% to 115,699. This regional momentum was anchored by Kamloops' two core provinces, which together represented 91% of all domestic visitation: British Columbia supplied 88,200 trips (+13.6%), while Alberta contributed 27,800 trips (+15.0%). Calgary surged +34.8% to 9,600 trips to become Kamloops' largest origin city, supported by strong gains from Vancouver (+54.9% to 7,500 trips) and Surrey (+26.4% to 9,400 trips).
Strategic Focus: Growth Opportunities & Market Dynamics
While overall headline numbers remain positive, analyzing movement patterns reveals key strategic opportunities for local operators:
Extending the Stay Horizon: Although Canadian trip volume rose substantially, total visitor nights expanded by just 1.0% (to 273,907 nights) as stay lengths shortened across all markets (1.8 nights for Canadian, 1.9 for U.S., and 2.7 for international visitors). In addition, traditional U.S. drive markets like California (2,200 trips, -19.7%) and Washington (2,100 trips, -5.6%) experienced softening. Because international travelers generate 1.8 times more room nights per trip than domestic travelers, encouraging longer stays through multi-night packages and targeted incentives represents one of the single largest revenue levers available.
Unlocking Shoulder-Season Potential: In accommodations, occupancy reached a peak-season high of 85.1%. With weekend occupancy approaching capacity limits, roughly two-thirds of July's revenue expansion was achieved through rate optimization. The clear growth path moving forward lies in channeling marketing momentum into the spring, fall, and winter shoulder seasons, where room inventory exists to support further volume expansion.
Visitor Activity & Digital Engagement
In terms of visitor activities, summer travel choices were led by outdoor recreation and leisure facilities. Recreation facilities captured 50% of all tracked location-of-interest visits in July, followed by casinos at 20%, while golf courses, large gathering venues, and cultural locations (museums and galleries) each represented 10% of tracked activity.
Accommodations achieved strong financial metrics, pushing RevPAR up 8.5% to $174.10 on an Average Daily Rate (ADR) of $204.52 (+5.8%). Total room night demand grew 2.6% to 86,586 nights.
On digital channels, website engagement continued to demonstrate higher intent from prospective visitors. Key engagement metrics improved significantly: average session duration increased 29.7% to 2 minutes and 46 seconds, bounce rate improved by 18.1% to 38.04%, and the proportion of engaged web sessions rose from 54% to 62%. Furthermore, returning website users grew 31.9% month-over-month to 5,049 users, and paid social campaigns saw conversions climb 12.0% to 614.
Overall, July 2026 delivered a strong mid-summer performance characterized by surging domestic travel, high-performing European and U.S. fly markets, and record digital engagement—laying a clear foundation for shoulder-season growth.
