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
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Canucks' Soucy suspended 1 game, Zadorov fined $5,000 for post-game crosschecks on McDavid
A Vancouver Canucks defenceman has been suspended for a game and another was handed a hefty fine after a scrum broke out at the end of Game 3 against the Edmonton Oilers Sunday night.
'Judge Judy' Sheindlin sues for defamation over National Enquirer, InTouch Weekly stories
'Judge Judy' Sheindlin sued the parent company of the National Enquirer and InTouch Weekly on Monday for a story that she said falsely claimed that she was trying to help the Menendez brothers get a retrial after they were convicted of murdering their parents.