A group of six golf Canadian and U.S. journalists and influencers are in town this week as part of Tourism Kamloops’ effort to promote local links.

Tourism Kamloops director of industry relations and communications Monica Dickinson said the initiative is in partnership with Golf Kamloops, which promotes six courses in the area.

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The group, which includes an advisor for the Golf Channel, journalists from Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto and two Vancouver social media influencers, have been golfing, wine touring and taking in Music in the Park.

On Thursday, Dickinson said, they golfed Tobiano and spent time on Kamloops Lake at Bruker Marina.

In a couple words, Dickinson said they’re “loving it.”

Jason Deegan, senior staff writer and golf advisor at the Golf Channel, posted his experience on Instagram: “The Awesome Talking Rock shoots up the leaderboard among my favourite Canadian courses. Pure fun. Each hole is so secluded. Views not too bad either. Maybe the most underrated in Canada.”

Dickinson said two people from the group came to golf Tobiano when it opened in 2009 and haven’t been back in a decade.

“Comments that are coming out, they’re loving the diversity of courses,” she said. “Every course plays differently, landscapes are different. They’re loving that. From a destination perspective, they had no idea we had wineries. They’re loving the feel and vibe. For those who are Vancouver-based or Calgary-based, new appreciation for Kamloops.”

Dickinson said Tourism Kamloops has worked hard in the last 18 months to promote golf in the region and is finding success, with more golf packages booked.

“We just got our results back to the end of June and we have almost tripled what’s happened in 2018 from a sales perspective,” she said. “We’ve actually surpassed sales results for the complete year of 2017 in the first six months of 2019. So, pretty impressive.”

From January to June 2019, 1,035 rounds and 330 nights were booked through Golf Kamloops.

For more, go online to golfkamloops.com.