A glass-half-full type of tourism season is what the owners of Priest Creek Family Estate Winery in Kelowna , B.C., are desperately hoping for after the last two summer seasons.

“We’ve been down,” said winery owner Darren Sawin. “We’re really lacking the tourists.”

Sawin largely attributes the slower-than-normal seasons to the provincial restrictions on short-term rentals implemented in early 2024.

But some of those restrictions could be eased — or least that is what the city is hoping for.

On Monday, city council voted in favour of a motion to pave the way for it to request a partial exemption to permit short-term rentals in eligible buildings, primarily intended for that purpose.

“It’s a good start,” Sawin said. “It’s going to really help us as a tourist town bring in some more p

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