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Penticton  

Osoyoos asking tourists to stay home May long weekend

Osoyoos says: 'Stay home'

Dale Cory

May long weekend is one of the busiest times of the year in Osoyoos — but due to the COVID-19 crisis, the town is asking people not to travel to the resort community.

“Stay home. Please come back when we’re ready to welcome you safely,” stated Town of Osoyoos mayor Sue McKortoff. “It’s a terrible thing for us to have to say that because usually this is the opening of our summer season. We normally have tons of people here this weekend. Our motels are full, our restaurants are busy, and our campgrounds are busy. 

“But this weekend, that is not happening. Our hotels are open, but there are very few people coming.”

The Holiday Inn is experiencing a downturn in reservations compared to the May long weekend one year ago.

”Last year at this time, we would have at least 50 people on staff. Of the 118 rooms we have available, we would have had at least 110 of them booked. And we would have known they would have been full all weekend. That’s the way this weekend traditionally plays out,” said Holiday Inn assistant general manager Linda Griffiths. “This year, during COVID, we probably have 12 people working, some of them only part time, and we have 14 rooms booked for this weekend.”

Osoyoos RCMP are even encouraging pleasure boaters to stay off Osoyoos Lake May long weekend.

“If you have a fishing boat, wonderful. If you have a kayak or paddle board, great. You can go out on the lake. We just don't want large groups of people out on the lake, and that quite often happens on this long weekend. We’re suggesting this is not the time to do that,” said McKortoff. “It’s for the sake of our fire department, our ambulance, or police department, who have to deal with those types of things if it gets busy out there, if there’s accidents.”

The community has stayed safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, and local residents are driven to keep it that way.

“We are acting very socially responsible here in Osoyoos, and we want them to remain that way too. If they must come, then please respect social distancing, and the fact we have primarily an older population that lives here in Osoyoos,” said Griffiths. “I don’t want to encourage people to come. It’s not the time to do that.”

McKortoff indicated part of the push for people to stay away is the impact on local police, fire and health.

“Our message this year is please do not come to Osoyoos this weekend. We are not prepared to deal with a lot of extra tourists and visitors to our town,” said McKortoff. “We’re hoping that people will get the same co-ordinated message that the premier, the prime minister, the minister of health, and the regional district are giving: stay safe, and stay in your own homes. It’s better for us to have you come here when it’s safer.

“We still have many businesses that are closed because phase two doesn’t not start until next week. We want to make sure we protect the people who live in our town, and our businesses that are here.”

Osoyoos bills itself as having Canada’s warmest welcome. But when it comes to the May long weekend, they are asking you to stay at home.



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