When B.C. said last October that it was going to bring in some of the toughest restrictions on short-term vacation rentals in North America, the owners of a prominent Okanagan resort complex had a moment of panic.
“We were caught in the middle of booking for the summer” says Brad Pelletier, senior vice-president for resort owner Wesbild Okanagan, noting that a million dollars worth of bookings were on the line when suddenly everything was wobbling. Now the Predator Ridge model is one that other cities and companies are interested in, as both groups try to figure out how to navigate the new tourism world where building new full-service hotels is less attractive for investors.
Mr. Cumming said the proliferation of short-term rentals in residential subdivisions had turned into a serious issue, despite Vernon seeing itself partially as a resort town. Nearby Penticton, in the heart of Okanagan wine country, tried to get a partial exemption from the province’s vacation-rental rules as well. But since it didn’t have any resort zones already designated, the city was turned down.“We’re not a dedicated tourist resort like some others in B.C., but we are a tourist town,” he said.
“I think we’ll see, in the next 36 months, the development of that type of product. Predator Ridge was just ahead of it.”