SONJA NAGEL
COWICHAN VALLEY – It’s that wonderful time of year when we turn our spotlight on tourism in the Cowichan Valley. Operated by the Duncan Cowichan Chamber of Commerce, the Cowichan Regional Visitor Centre welcomes around 25,000 visitors annually. We’re thrilled to be expecting a similar number of visitors this summer as we did in the pre-pandemic summer of 2019. The return of international and U.S. visitors, along with steady growth from across Canada, has us even more excited.
We’ve all seen the craziness of BC Ferry traffic this summer. This increase can be attributed to Vancouver Island’s incredible popularity as a destination. It seems everyone wants to visit here!
The Cowichan Valley has indeed experienced a tourism boom this summer. Unfortunately, some of this growth resulted from the Highway 4 closures to Port Alberni and west coast destinations. Our Centre has seen a steady stream of visitors adapting their itineraries and choosing to stay in the Cowichan region.
Cowichan’s wineries are also celebrating a record-breaking summer, thanks to the self-guided Wine Tasting Tour during the Cowichan Valley Wine Festival. Wineries are optimistic, proclaiming, “2023 will be a very good year for wines produced from Cowichan grapes.”
Festivals in Cowichan were back in full swing this summer, including the 39 Days of July in downtown Duncan, Laketown Shakedown, Sunfest Country Music Festival at Laketown Ranch, Islands Folk Festival, Cowichan Valley Bluegrass Festival, Special Woodstock, Cobble Hill Fair, and Cowichan Bay Wooden Boat Festival…to name a few.
Internationally, Cowichan attracted participants to both the Belgian Waffle Ride and BC Bike Race, which expanded to a 3-day basecamp in North Cowichan.
We’re eagerly anticipating an equally bustling fall at the Visitor Centre, along with a return to robust event programming in the Chamber this fall and winter.
On the Chamber front, we’ve warmly welcomed a diverse group of businesses and organizations to our network this summer, including Burger King Duncan, Cowichan Auto Repair, The Spool Yard, Bosley’s Mill Bay and Duncan, Pharmasave Mill Bay, Pathway’s Death Doula Services, Hank’s Cowichan, Luxe Inc, TAOH Wellness, InvestorHome Inc., Inherit Designs Landscaping, Urban Forest Bistro, Black Sheep Painting, Owls Nest, That’s My Jam, Caprice Theatre, Vancouver Island Event Catering, Westrand Consulting Group, Redefined Clothing, The Original Craft Night and SALT Vacations Inc.
Sonja Nagel is Executive Director of the Duncan Cowichan Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached at 250-748-1111 or manager@duncancc.bc.ca