,TERRACE STANDARD Bustness REvIEw TERRACE AND District Chamber of Commerce manager Linda Ball, left, helps Wayne and Becky Dorcas from Bellingham, Washington, with their questions about the area, The couple's vacation in the area included fishing, hiking and general sight- seeing. Tourism stats at the chamber’s tourism in- formation centre are up over last year and that is making locals happy. JESSIE GIES PHOTO Tourism number increases welcomed in Terrace area TOURISM statistics from the Terrace and District Chamber of Commerce show that the number of out-of- town visitors is up here this year compared to last year. The news contradicts worries earlier on that the com- bination of the war in Iraq and the SARS outbreak in Toronto would suppress tourism traffic here. May’s numbers this year were up by 32 per cent com- pared to May of 2002. Claire Erwin, executive assistant at the chamber, said 580 tourists stopped at the tourism information centre lo- cated on Keith Ave. in May as opposed to'439 visitors 2002. , She said this year's weather could explain the dramatic increase. “We've had an exceptionally good summer so far,” Erwin said. “Last year we had a lot of rain in May.” The statistics do not include tourists who came - _ through Terrace without stopping at the centre. “We're probably only getting half of the people here,” Erwin said. The results for June show tourism went up eight per cent this year — to 1,350 visitors from 1,255 in June 2002. ae Visti EP Terrace’s regional presence a surprise to Kitimat planner _ By MATTHEW PETERSON THE MAN who helped ‘design Kitimat says the lo- cal trend of shopping in Terrace is one of the big- gest surprises 50 years. lat- er. Roger Wilcox, 83, loured Kitimat recently and met locals more than half a century after work- ing on .the team - that planned and laid out the aluminum city, Terrace’s evolution as a regional shopping centre was unexpected, he said. “ “We never really thought thal if there was a ‘decent road from here to Visitor numbers for July totaled 2,573 which is slight- ly above last year's 2,420 visitors to the information centre. On top of increased drop-ins, telephone inquiries re- garding tourism have doubled this year, according to Er- win. She said popular interests include wilderness, fishing and hiking, She said the top request for information this year is the same as last year. “The Kermode bear and big salmon,” never changes.” Erwin said most visitors stopping at the information centre come from foreign countries such as Germany, France, Austria, Holland, and England. She said there are also a significant number of tour- ists from the U.S. and eastern Canada coming to Terrace. There have been no telephone inquiries about UFOs in Terrace yet this summer, according to Erwin. However, reports from northern UFO researchers in- dicate there have been numerous inquiries via e-mail from across North America. That's a result of Terrace’s growing reputation as the UFO capital of B.C. she said. “It MAP OF the Kitimat area looms over the shoulder of Roger Wilcox, one of the plannerts who helped design the community 50 years ago. Wilcox says he and others never anticipated Terrace’s evolution as the region's shopping mecca. Terrace that people would The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - Al] SNDS is offering assistance for youth to participate in sports, recreation and fine arts in Urban Terrace. “Our objective is lo provide opportunities for mental, physical, emotional and spiritual (life balance) growth of Aboriginal youth.” | FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT ARNIE 500) 635-6044 Or Toll Free 1-800-721-1633, THIS PROGRAM RUNS ONA YEAR-ROUND BASIS Winning Points is.a plan you can stick with #ill you reach your goal. You can eat the foods you lave, stay satisfied, and still lose weight. Now at Weight Watchers- get "In the Groove"- your cool guide to getting sated fFEQ when you join. ‘Results not typical. ~ JOIN NOW FOR 1/2 PRICE AND SAVE $22 cat 1 800 682 80911 WetcHTWarTCcHERS.com Knox United Church (Terrace) 4907 Lazelle Tuesday 9:30 am » Tuesday 5:30 pm, 7:00 pm @WeightWatchers real food. real life. real results. Valid for a limited time at participating meeting locations. (02003 Welpht Watchera International, Inc, ownal of ha WEL WATCHERS trademark All eights rasanved, = gers. Visit the website for details or pick up a Rider's Guide on board your bus. ‘ Effective:-August 25; 2003. Starting Monday, August 25, there's more direct service for transit passen- -* School service has been adjusted to meet the new bell times. “© New school service: to Uplands: Elementary { trom the. Mountain oe _ Vista/Bailey neighbourhood. db : Se * Friday evenin service ends slightly earlier due to low ridership . n. some route ‘shop in Terrace,” Wilcox said. - “We thought Kitimat would be the hub of devel- opment in the area. We didn’t think of what Ter- race would do.” He said Kitimat needs to reanalyze the commer- cial situation and adjust where necessary. -“What we thought of 50 years ago is out of date,” he said. ~He said the service centre in Kitimat city is underutilized Wilcox also offered a critique of the town’s look ‘from an outsider’s view - but one that helped father the city. The biggest eyesore? The lack of adequate land- scaping around buildings, especially apartment com- plexes. “With nothing to soften those buildings they look bad,” he said, “It is the worst looking feature of Kitimat from an outsider’s point of view.” After 50 years, he said, something should have been done to require better landscaping. Wilcox also noted Kiti- mat sometimes get poor marks for tourism -- despite its beautiful setting. — and is still viewed as a compa- ny town. timal possible conditions,” He said that’s what the he said, referring to original team always planned full use of the hy- sought to avoid, adding better marketing might help. “If that is the image be- ing passed around, that Ki- timat ig a company town, then somebody missed the boal. I don’t think Kitimat is a company town.” The main goals in de- signing the town was to get away from a company town look and to ensure it was an attractive place to stay because of the multi- tude of good features. “We designed for 30,000 under the most op- Fee hike hits Hawkair HAWKAIR HAS been hit with navigation fee in- creases of 6.9 per cent as of Aug. 1. The increase comes from NavCanada, a nat- for-profit federal corpora- tion formed in the last decade to manage the ‘country’s air navigation ~ system. Hawkair's Char Toews said the fee increase isn't fair to smaller airlines as it was brought in to make up for $22 million in fees Air Canada owes NayCanada. “It's the airlines that are not bankrupt who are paying for it,” she said. : Toews said the increase adds up to $75,000 per year in additional costs for for Hawkair. She said there are no foreseen changes to. cus- tomer charges. “We've had all kinds of increases and expenses since we started,” Toews said. “We'll just continue to be the most efficient re- gional airline in Canada,” Hawkair began pnas- Senger service in 2000 and now serves Terrace, Prince Rupert, Smithers and Dawson Creek. dro-electric potential of the Nechako watershed. That was to feature with a second tunnel through Mt. Dubose, permitting more water to create more power at Alcan’s Kemano hydro-electric generating complex. ; Want A Photo? Did you see a photo in the paper that you want a copy of? 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