A group committed to sprucing up downtown Trail is prepping local business owners for an onslaught of athletes set to visit the West Kootenay for the B.C. Seniors Games next month.
The Downtown Opportunities and Action Committee is providing suggestions to local businesses to ensure they too are thinking about catering to the thousands of people to be a part of the Games hosted in Trail, Castlegar and Nelson Aug. 16-20.
“We’re just going to make some suggestions and recommendations and hopefully they take us up on that, ultimately it’s private enterprise and it’s up to them on how they want to staff their businesses” said Kevin Jolly, chair of the downtown group.
“The numbers we’ve seen indicate that there’s up to as much as $2 million in economic spin-off activity from a seniors’ games for areas of this size.”
The group’s marketing and engagement sub-committee is working closely with the Trail and District Chamber of Commerce, by making suggestions on details such as staffing levels and all other aspects involved in showing tourists hospitality and great service upon their visit.
“We just want to make sure we put our best foot forward and give the businesses every opportunity to know what those expectations look like,” said Jolly.
The city has budgeted $150,000 toward the committee’s projects, but the majority of this money will go toward an overall three-year plan that will take into account aspects like traffic flow, parking and aesthetics. The plan is expected to be completed this fall.
For more information on the upcoming Games, visit http://www.2011bcseniorsgames.org/