Columbia Valley Short Term Rental Association
Supporting local owners, visitor choice, community confidence, and a thriving Columbia Valley tourism economy.
Columbia Valley Short Term Rental Association
Supporting local owners, visitor choice, community confidence, and a thriving Columbia Valley tourism economy.
Promoting Tourism and Prosperity in the Valley
Tourism is one of the Columbia Valley’s most important economic drivers. Accommodation and food services generated $93 million in export activity in 2019, showing how visitor spending supports local businesses, workers, and communities across the region.
The CVSTRA advocates for balanced policies that recognize both community concerns and the economic importance of visitor accommodations, and the economic stability those accomodations provide all residents.
Short-term rentals strengthen the Columbia Valley.
Tourism accommodation supports local businesses, visitor spending, family travel, property investment, seasonal employment, and the recreation economy that defines Invermere, Windermere, Fairmont Hot Springs, Panorama, and Radium Hot Springs.
Community Wide STR Benefits
STRs turn visitor demand into local spending.
The Columbia Valley is not a generic urban rental market. It is a recreation-based, second-home, seasonal visitor economy. STRs help accommodate families, golf groups, ski travellers, wedding guests, hot springs visitors, remote workers, and returning seasonal residents who often need full homes, kitchens, multiple bedrooms, parking, laundry, pet flexibility, and space that traditional hotel rooms cannot always provide.
STR guests do not just pay for lodging. They buy groceries, gas, restaurant meals, coffee, ski passes, golf rounds, marina services, hot springs visits, retail goods, and local experiences.
In a tourism economy, accommodation is not separate from the community. It is the front door to restaurants, shops, trades, recreation, and local jobs.
STR FAQs
Clear answers based on the data.
Are STRs an expected form of accommodation in the region?
Yes. In the RDEK short-term rental survey, 57.4% of respondents said STRs are a form of tourism accommodation the public expects in their area. This reflects changing travel behaviour, especially for families, groups, ski travellers, lake visitors, and guests who prefer a home-style stay.
Do guests generally have positive STR experiences?
Yes. Only 3.1% of respondents who had stayed in an STR within the RDEK described the experience as negative.
Do hosts generally report positive STR experiences?
Yes. Among respondents who had listed their property as a short-term rental, 98.2% described their experience renting the property as positive.
Would every STR become long-term housing if STRs were restricted?
No. Only 7.9% of STR operators said the space would have been rented to a long-term resident if it had not been rented short-term.
Why do visitors choose STRs instead of hotels?
STRs provide full-home amenities such as kitchens, multiple bedrooms, laundry, parking, outdoor space, pet flexibility, and shared gathering areas. These features are especially important for families, multi-generational trips, sports groups, wedding groups, ski trips, longer stays, and guests visiting communities with limited hotel capacity.
STR Regulations
STRs already operate within a structured regulatory environment.
The Columbia Valley STR environment is not unregulated. Operators must navigate local zoning, business licensing, safety documentation, provincial registration, parking standards, guest limits, strata rules where applicable, and Temporary Use Permit requirements in areas where STRs are not otherwise permitted.
Economic Evidence
The numbers show a strong visitor economy.
The strongest economic case for STRs is simple: accommodation enables visitation, and visitation drives local spending. In a recreation-driven valley, that spending supports more than hosts. It supports cleaners, contractors, trades, restaurants, shops, activity providers, tourism operators, photographers, maintenance teams, landscapers, snow removal businesses, and hospitality workers.
Future Outlook
Visitor demand is tied to the valley’s long-term growth.
Invest Columbia Valley identifies recreational property owners as one of the most significant prospects for new resident and investment attraction. The valley’s summer population can grow substantially through recreational property use and tourism visits. STRs are part of this broader pattern: people visit, spend locally, build familiarity with the community, return seasonally, invest, and sometimes transition into longer-term residents or business owners.
The future of the Columbia Valley depends on preserving the features that make the region attractive: recreation, clean communities, family travel, lake access, mountain experiences, responsible property ownership, and a strong base of small local businesses. STRs support that ecosystem by creating flexible accommodation capacity where and when demand exists.
Compliance
Responsible STRs are licensed, documented, and accountable.
The compliance picture is clear: responsible STR operation includes licensing, safety, parking, occupancy control, fire planning, local contact readiness, provincial registration, tax collection where applicable, and respect for strata or community rules. These requirements separate accountable operators from poor operators and create a safer, more predictable visitor accommodation market.
The data does not show a reason to treat responsible STRs as a community threat. It shows a reason to recognize them as part of the visitor economy.
Short-term rentals strengthen the Columbia Valley.
Tourism accommodation supports local businesses, visitor spending, family travel, property investment, seasonal employment, and the recreation economy that defines Invermere, Windermere, Fairmont Hot Springs, Panorama, and Radium Hot Springs.
Community Wide STR Benefits
STRs turn visitor demand into local spending.
The Columbia Valley is not a generic urban rental market. It is a recreation-based, second-home, seasonal visitor economy. STRs help accommodate families, golf groups, ski travellers, wedding guests, hot springs visitors, remote workers, and returning seasonal residents who often need full homes, kitchens, multiple bedrooms, parking, laundry, pet flexibility, and space that traditional hotel rooms cannot always provide.
STR guests do not just pay for lodging. They buy groceries, gas, restaurant meals, coffee, ski passes, golf rounds, marina services, hot springs visits, retail goods, and local experiences.
In a tourism economy, accommodation is not separate from the community. It is the front door to restaurants, shops, trades, recreation, and local jobs.
STR FAQs
Clear answers based on the data.
Are STRs an expected form of accommodation in the region?
Yes. In the RDEK short-term rental survey, 57.4% of respondents said STRs are a form of tourism accommodation the public expects in their area. This reflects changing travel behaviour, especially for families, groups, ski travellers, lake visitors, and guests who prefer a home-style stay.
Do guests generally have positive STR experiences?
Yes. Only 3.1% of respondents who had stayed in an STR within the RDEK described the experience as negative.
Do hosts generally report positive STR experiences?
Yes. Among respondents who had listed their property as a short-term rental, 98.2% described their experience renting the property as positive.
Would every STR become long-term housing if STRs were restricted?
No. Only 7.9% of STR operators said the space would have been rented to a long-term resident if it had not been rented short-term.
Why do visitors choose STRs instead of hotels?
STRs provide full-home amenities such as kitchens, multiple bedrooms, laundry, parking, outdoor space, pet flexibility, and shared gathering areas. These features are especially important for families, multi-generational trips, sports groups, wedding groups, ski trips, longer stays, and guests visiting communities with limited hotel capacity.
STR Regulations
STRs already operate within a structured regulatory environment.
The Columbia Valley STR environment is not unregulated. Operators must navigate local zoning, business licensing, safety documentation, provincial registration, parking standards, guest limits, strata rules where applicable, and Temporary Use Permit requirements in areas where STRs are not otherwise permitted.
Economic Evidence
The numbers show a strong visitor economy.
The strongest economic case for STRs is simple: accommodation enables visitation, and visitation drives local spending. In a recreation-driven valley, that spending supports more than hosts. It supports cleaners, contractors, trades, restaurants, shops, activity providers, tourism operators, photographers, maintenance teams, landscapers, snow removal businesses, and hospitality workers.
Future Outlook
Visitor demand is tied to the valley’s long-term growth.
Invest Columbia Valley identifies recreational property owners as one of the most significant prospects for new resident and investment attraction. The valley’s summer population can grow substantially through recreational property use and tourism visits. STRs are part of this broader pattern: people visit, spend locally, build familiarity with the community, return seasonally, invest, and sometimes transition into longer-term residents or business owners.
The future of the Columbia Valley depends on preserving the features that make the region attractive: recreation, clean communities, family travel, lake access, mountain experiences, responsible property ownership, and a strong base of small local businesses. STRs support that ecosystem by creating flexible accommodation capacity where and when demand exists.
Compliance
Responsible STRs are licensed, documented, and accountable.
The compliance picture is clear: responsible STR operation includes licensing, safety, parking, occupancy control, fire planning, local contact readiness, provincial registration, tax collection where applicable, and respect for strata or community rules. These requirements separate accountable operators from poor operators and create a safer, more predictable visitor accommodation market.
The data does not show a reason to treat responsible STRs as a community threat. It shows a reason to recognize them as part of the visitor economy.
Our Mission
To support a responsible, sustainable, and locally beneficial accommodation industry that strengthens the Columbia Valley economy, protects community character, and promotes fair, practical, evidence-based policy.
Support local business
Provide high-quality experiences for both visitors and residents
Empower growth and prosperity in the local economy
Join the Columbia Valley Short Term Rental Association Today.
Empower growth and prosperity in the local economy
Join the Columbia Valley Short Term Rental Association Today.