BC Ferries website goes down within hours of province announcing end of travel ban
Just as the province announced people could resume recreational travel around B.C. as of June 15, the BC Ferries website began crashing, and its call centre was inundated.
As of early Monday evening, the site still had a message that read “currently unavailable.”
Replies to customer inquiries on social media indicated the company had seen a lot of web traffic, and customer service representatives suggested people try calling back on Tuesday, if they didn’t need help right away.
BC Ferries executive director of public affairs Deborah Marshall said the issue was a “technical glitch.”
“I think a lot of customers did check out our website,” she said. “(We) just don’t know the root cause of that problem just yet, but (we are) actively working on it.”
The website includes travel schedules and a reservation booking system. Throughout the pandemic, government-related websites have been known to crash due to sudden spikes in people trying to make reservations, after weeks or months of lockdowns and restrictions. For example, last summer Parks Canada websites crashed when too many people tried to book camp sites at the same time.
Marshall said that beginning Tuesday, ticket agents will no longer have to ask ferry customers the reason for their trip. She said the full summer ferry schedule, which includes hundreds of extra sailings, will come into effect at the end of the month, though there is the ability to add sailings to the major routes before then “if the demand presents itself.”
Passengers will also be able to remove their masks outdoors at the ferry terminals, though face coverings are still mandated while on board the ships for now.
Tourism Vancouver Island president and CEO Anthony Everett said the restriction being lifted is “exciting” and something that “everybody’s been waiting for.”
“Bookings have been happening here on the island in anticipation,” he said. “I spent my morning talking to many businesses that are excited about the opening, but want people to be aware that they can’t offer the same level of service that they were (offering) prior to the pandemic.”
Everett said that’s because of an “acute” staffing shortage, which was an issue prior to Covid-19 as well, but has only gotten worse.
“Everybody needs to travel with a degree of patience,” he said, adding that some of the bigger resorts and hotels might be particularly challenged when it comes to food services, and may need to curtail their menus or hours of operation.
Everett said one kayak operator who used to employ more than 40 people is now down to about 12, and the bulk of its business used to come from international travellers.
“Ultimately the tourism industry needs to get back to welcoming people from around the world,” he said, and added the lifting of the restriction is an important first step in the industry’s recovery. “I firmly believe that this is going to take us years, if not a decade or more, to be where we were.”
Everett said there are still a lot of places around the island with room for bookings, and he’s encouraging people to try visiting somewhere new for that much-awaited change of scenery.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.