Tourism Kelowna

What Tourism Kelowna does

Tourism Kelowna is a non-profit Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) established in 2008 and headquartered at 238 Queensway in Kelowna, British Columbia. It is administered by an elected Board of Directors composed of tourism sector stakeholders and operates with a staff in the 11-50 range. The organization's mandate is to market Kelowna and the Central Okanagan region as a four-season travel destination to leisure visitors, families, outdoor recreation seekers, food and wine travelers, and meeting and event planners. It maintains a physical Visitor Centre in downtown Kelowna and acknowledges its operations take place on the unceded traditional territory of the Westbank First Nation and Okanagan Indian Band.

The organization's core product is the official tourismkelowna.com website, which provides trip planning content, an itinerary builder, an events calendar, and an accommodation booking directory. Supporting platforms include a Meetings & Events Services hub, a dedicated Sports Tourism platform, an #exploreKelowna Creator Program for influencer partnerships, a Member Partner Portal built on the SimpleView CRM platform, and a branded merchandise retail store at loveforkelowna.com. The technology stack is conventional web/CRM infrastructure; no proprietary AI/ML systems or data products are disclosed. Marketing distribution spans organic social media, email newsletters, paid digital placements, media hosting for travel writers, and co-marketing with Hello BC.

Tourism Kelowna's revenue model is not visitor-facing. Primary funding flows from the Municipal and Regional District Tax (MRDT) collected from hotel guests and administered by the B.C. government, supplemented by recurring membership and advertising fees from local tourism operators participating in tiered marketing programs (Wine Spots, Culture Spots, Farm Spots, Foodie Spots, Sip Spots, and Meeting Spots). In 2025 the destination recorded 2.2 million visits (up 5.2% year-over-year) and $1.2 billion CAD in visitor spending (up 2%), with an average trip length of just over 2.5 days. The organization carries Canada's first and only UNESCO City of Gastronomy designation and holds Biosphere Committed and Rainbow Registered certifications.

Name

Tourism Kelowna

Legal name

Tourism Kelowna

Website

https://tourismkelowna.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Tourism Kelowna is a non-profit Destination Marketing Organization promoting Kelowna, British Columbia as a four-season travel destination. It operates the official tourismkelowna.com website and is funded by the hotel guest MRDT tax and member operator fees, serving visitors and local tourism businesses.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Destination Marketing Services

NAICS

Convention and Visitors Bureaus (561591)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Experiential & Cultural Programming (Tours, Activities, CSR/Voluntourism) (THAHADAF)

Keywords

• Destination marketing
• Tourism promotion
• Visitor information
• Trip planning tools
• Event calendar services

Headquarters

HQ city

Kelowna

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Hotel Guest Tax (MRDT): Tourism Kelowna is funded through the Municipal and Regional District Tax (MRDT) collected from hotel guests, which is administered by the B.C. government and distributed to the organization for tourism marketing purposes.
2. Membership & Advertising Programs: Local tourism operators can join membership programs and purchase advertising placements on Tourism Kelowna's website and marketing platforms. Programs include Wine Spots, Culture Spots, Farm Spots, Foodie Spots, Sip Spots, and Meeting Spots marketing program tiers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Tourism Kelowna is a non-profit destination marketing organization (DMO) that promotes Kelowna, BC as a four-season travel destination. It operates the tourismkelowna.com website providing visitor information, itinerary-building tools, event calendars, accommodation referrals, and curated content across outdoor, wine, food, and family categories. It also runs a member partner program with advertising placements and a creator/influencer program (#exploreKelowna) for destination content marketing.

Product overview

Tourism Kelowna operates a multi-platform destination marketing ecosystem anchored by the tourismkelowna.com website, which serves as the primary consumer-facing platform for trip planning. The core offering includes the main destination website with integrated itinerary building, event calendar, accommodation discovery, and experiential content organized by season and interest category. Supporting platforms include the #exploreKelowna Creator Program for influencer marketing, a Meetings & Events Services platform for corporate and social event planning, a Sports Tourism platform, a B2B Member Partner Portal powered by SimpleView CRM, and an online retail store for branded merchandise.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• #exploreKelowna: Official hashtag and brand used for social media marketing campaigns and community engagement across platforms.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2.2 million tourist visits welcomed in 2025, representing 5.2% growth over 2024
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Westbank First NationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWestbank First Nation is acknowledged as the traditional territory on which Tourism Kelowna operates. The organization recognizes the syilx Okanagan peoples as the original stewards of the land and credits Westbank First Nation and Okanagan Indian Band for the privilege of living, working, and playing on their unceded traditional territory.
• Okanagan Indian BandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOkanagan Indian Band is acknowledged alongside Westbank First Nation as traditional territory holders. Tourism Kelowna recognizes their role as original stewards of the syilx Okanagan lands.
• SimpleViewcoreTechnology or IntegrationSimpleView provides the CRM platform powering Tourism Kelowna's partner portal and website infrastructure. The partner portal (kelowna.extranet.simpleviewcrm.com) enables local operators to manage their presence and access marketing programs.
• Hello BC (Tourism British Columbia)majorGTM or Marketing PartnerTourism Kelowna partners with Hello BC, the provincial tourism marketing organization, for destination promotion and alignment with British Columbia tourism initiatives. The Supernatural BC brand is featured on Tourism Kelowna's website.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Tourism Vancouver: Destination marketing organization for Vancouver, BC. Directly comparable as a B.C.-based CVB promoting a multi-season urban/outdoor destination to leisure and meetings travelers, with similar funding mix (hotel tax, partnerships).
• Tourism Whistler: DMO for Whistler, BC. Closest peer in terms of four-season mountain destination marketing, ski/cycling/summer content strategy, and BC funding structure. Overlaps significantly on target persona (outdoor adventure, families, meetings).
• Banff & Lake Louise Tourism: DMO for Banff and Lake Louise, Alberta. Highly comparable as a Canadian four-season mountain destination with strong international brand recognition, similar visitor mix (outdoor, families, meetings), and similar sustainability/Indigenous partnership dynamics.
• Tourism Jasper: DMO for Jasper, Alberta. Comparable mid-sized Canadian mountain destination marketing organization with overlapping customer segments (outdoor adventure, wildlife, families) and a similar MRDT-style funding model.
• Destination Toronto: DMO for Toronto, Ontario. Comparable Canadian city-level CVB with similar funding structures, meetings/events focus, and multi-channel creator and content marketing programs.
• Visit Napa Valley: DMO for Napa Valley, California. Closest international analog given its wine/gastronomy-led destination positioning, similar four-season appeal, and reliance on food/wine as a core differentiator comparable to Kelowna's UNESCO City of Gastronomy positioning.
• Sonoma County Tourism: DMO for Sonoma County, California. Comparable as a wine and culinary-focused destination with an emphasis on farm-to-table experiences, sustainability credentials, and an outdoor/wine blend similar to Kelowna's positioning.
• Tourism Calgary: DMO for Calgary, Alberta. Comparable Canadian city/region DMO with overlapping Western Canadian travel market, mountain gateway positioning, and meetings/events focus.

Regional players

• Hello BC (Tourism British Columbia): Provincial DMO for British Columbia and a current marketing partner of Tourism Kelowna. Comparable in mission (destination promotion) but operates at a province-wide scale and overlapping content categories (wine, ski, outdoor).

Broad incumbents

• Destination Canada: National DMO for Canada. Operates one tier above Tourism Kelowna in the destination marketing hierarchy, with overlapping audiences and complementary (rather than directly competitive) role in international promotion.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Tourism_Kelowna
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TourismKelowna
• Facebookfacebook.com/TourismKelowna
• Instagraminstagram.com/tourismkelowna

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tourism Kelowna