SQUAMISH, B.C. -- In the spring and summer, most visitors to the Sea to Sky Gondola south of Squamish come off planes and cruise ships. If the non-essential travel ban stays in place and international visitors aren’t able to come, general manager Kirby Brown has another plan for the attraction when it's able to reopen to the public.
“We know that we’ll do a good business locally for people that just want to get outside and enjoy time with family and this beautiful backyard that we have,” said Brown. “Our business will be a local business, we’ll be a regional traffic spot. We’ll have our pass holders come and enjoy the hiking and the trails.”
But Brown knows revenues will drop off dramatically without one-time tourist tickets. “The tourism landscape is going to change. With all the federal and provincial government support, I hope that the vast majority of my peers in this industry will see the other side of this. But there are some businesses that are really struggling,” he said.
Tourism is a $20 billion industry in B.C. that employs 160,000 people across 19,000 businesses. “I know these businesses, these communities are looking for when is this going to be over, what can I do to build revenue again,” said Maya Lange, the vice-president of global marketing for Destination British Columbia. She thinks businesses that can pivot to locals will do better.
“We know the domestic market, British Columbians, will be the first to travel. So we definitely encourage businesses to think about how their experience, maybe their pricing, how they may want to adjust that so that it appeals to that British Columbian resident,” said Lange. “Destination B.C. is going to be launching a very large, domestic B.C. resident-focused campaign to get British Columbians out exploring this province, so we can do our part to help generate revenue again for those businesses.”
That could work for outdoor adventure companies like the Sea to Sky Gondola, the Capilano Suspension Bridge or Grouse Mountain. But it will be much harder to convince locals to get on a hop-on hop-off bus or take a city tour. “We do know some businesses won’t be able to make it out of this period,” said Lange.
When the Sea to Sky Gondola is able to reopen, it won’t be business as usual. Each family or travelling group will get their own gondola, and the cars will be sanitized at the top and the bottom before another group can board. The suspension bridge at the top will have one way traffic, and staff will make sure visitors follow physical distancing.
“We know we can put that into practise very quickly once our public health officials say that’s the right thing to do,” said Brown. “We’ve been running scenarios like everybody else has, and we’re optimistic we’ll be able to return to work sometime this summer with limited operations.”
