Those involved in Kimberley tourism spend a lot of time focusing on the Alberta market, and rightly so. It’s close and the majority of Kimberley visitors definitely come from wild rose country.

However, says city Councillor Paddy Weston, who spent a few days last week working the Kootenay Rockies Tourism tent on BC Street at the Olympic Games, the Lower Mainland offers millions of potential visitors as well.

“We had a couple of thousand people a day though the booth,” Weston said. “Most of them were from the Lower Mainland, many from Richmond because that’s where the booth was.

“It’s amazing how many people in the Lower Mainland have never heard the word Kootenay. So many Lower Mainlanders think the other side of the Port Mann Bridge is dangerous wilderness.”

Weston says it was valuable to see just how many potential tourists there are in that area.

“We focus so much on Alberta, as we should, but there are just as many people in the Lower Mainland.”