This year’s wildfires did not measurably affect the number of travellers passing along Hwy16 and stopping in Houston, show numbers released by the Houston and District Chamber of Commerce’s visitor information centre.
Even at the height of the number and size of fires around the community and in the area, visitor numbers held relatively firm when compared to last year.
In July, 788 parties stopped at the visitor information centre, compared to 873 parties in July 2023. And the number of visitors this July — 1,464 — was six people short of the 1,470 visitors in July 2022.
August saw an increase in the number of parties at 898 compared to the 860 parties in August 2022. The number of visitors within the parties did drop, from 1,567 last August to 1,526 this August.
May’s numbers offered the promise of a robust tourist season with 255 parties containing 362 visitors stopping for assistance or information. That’s compared to 222 parties in May of last year and 362 visitors.
Numbers dipped slightly in June with 384 parties compared to 390 last June and 647 visitors compared to 701 last June.
Houston and District Chamber of Commerce executive director Maureen Czirfusz provided a comment on this year’s traffic at the organization’s tourist information centre.
“I would not say [the number of wildfires] affected our numbers, but we got many questions about the fires,” she said.
“Many visitors would ask about safe areas to hike and camp and about the road conditions,” Czirfusz added.