Busy long weekend ahead for BC Ferries, airports, hotels
Tourists packed Victoria's inner harbour on Thursday ahead of the summer’s first long weekend, including hundreds from a cruise ship.
The increased foot traffic has meant business is sweet at shops, like Oh Gelato and Victoria Ice Cream and Fudge Factory.
It’s been booming now that the tourists are here,” said Alexya Skrlac, as she scooped ice cream at Oh Gelato Thursday. “It's finally getting to see kind of what tourism looks like again.”
The impact on hotels of new Airbnb rules, which came into effect last month, is tough to gauge just yet, said Bill Lewis, the head of the Greater Victoria Hotel Association. However, hotels in the capital are nearly fully booked through Canada Day.
“Kids are out of school, people are travelling more robustly with their summer underway,” said Lewis.
In fact, the Canada Day long weekend is the busiest weekend of the year for BC Ferries, said spokesperson, Ceilidh Marlow.
“We’re expecting well over 500,000 passengers this weekend, so its going to be a busy one,” said Marlow, noting BC Ferries has added 350 sailings this summer compared to last year.
It will also be busy at Vancouver International Airport – which is expecting nearly 8 million travellers this summer, and at Victoria’s International Airport – which is planning for 6,000 flyers this weekend alone -- as summer tourism takes off.
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