By Terri Hadwin
This summer, the Gold Country Communities Society (GCCS) conducted its First Annual Geocaching event.
The Poker Run took place over nine days with daily events at nine different communities throughout the Gold Country Region.
More than 700 people signed our logbooks over the course of nine days. We had a visitor from as far away as the UK.
We also had some wonderful geocaching visitors from other regions of British Columbia. We enjoyed the company of geocachers from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Less than 10 per cent of the attendees were Gold Country locals.
This event increased geocachers’ knowledge of our GeoTourism program. During the event, there were nearly 5,000 online entries to the Gold Country GeoTourism, as well as Poker Run geocaches.
Feedback from businesses of the area has been extremely positive. With geocachers sharing the reasons why they came to the area to geocache, it is making more businesses aware of the positive impact the Gold Country GeoTourism program and geocaching events are having on the local economy.
Research suggests that out-of-region tourists spend approximately $150 per day.
With the success of the 2013 geocaching event, the GCCS has decided to proceed with the Second Annual Geocaching Event. The 2014 event will take place over four days with a daily event in four different communities. The 2014 event has a “Passport to the Gold Trail” theme.
More details on dates and locations to be released soon. Because the funding for the GeoTourism program has come to a close, we will be relying heavily on sponsorship and volunteers to make this event successful.
If you are interested in becoming a part of this event and wish to volunteer, we would love to hear from you. We also would love to hear from our stakeholders … if any of the following suggestions intrigues you: you would like to host an event at your business, ensure you are a business stop during the event, have a geocache placed on or near your property, would like to contribute sponsorship, prizes or coupons or give any feedback, please contact us at 1-877-453-9467, or e-mail goldcountry@telus.net.
For more information, visit www.exploregoldcountry.com or www.goldtrail.com.
Terri Hadwin is the chief operating officer of the Gold Country Region.