Vancouver hospitality industry gets long-awaited, long weekend boost
A full slate of cruise ships docked in the Vancouver Harbour this May long weekend, giving a much- needed boost to the hospitality industry.
A total of seven ships came through, with each one bringing in an estimated $3.17 million, according to the Port of Vancouver.
Passengers filled up local tourist attractions that had seen an underwhelming start to the season.
“May has been super slow especially because it’s been so rainy,” Lucy Caldwell of Prince of Whales Whale Watching told CTV News.
"With the sunny weather we've had four tours a day going on, it's pretty busy, full tours, we have lots of tourists I think from the UK,” Caldwell said.
After an unseasonably wet and cold beginning to the spring, the sunny weather also helped fill up restaurant patios with both locals and tourists.
"I'd say it's been a normal May long weekend, which is something I haven't been able to say for a couple years,” said Steamworks' president of operations, Carl McCreath.
McCreath says business has been slowly ramping up since the beginning of April.
“The flow of people, the energy of people, the flow in the room, it’s been a lot like it used to be,” he said.
However, McCreath says while sales have returned to normal levels, there’s still a staffing crunch to contend with.
"There's definitely been some times where we've been stretched a bit with the sales versus how much staff we have on. We're climbing out of it but there's been some challenging shifts for sure," he said.
McCreath added that job postings only yield about 20 per cent of the responses they used to but he remains confident they’ll make it through the summer.
"Were pretty optimistic that this summer's going to be an excellent summer -- for us, for downtown, for tourism, for Vancouver. We expect it to be a very good summer.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
What Canadians think of the latest Liberal budget
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Teacher shortages see some Ontario high school students awarded perfect grades on midterm exams
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Her fiance has been in prison for 49 years. She's trying to free him before it's too late
Christine Roess is a retired consultant. Ezra Bozeman has spent the last 49 years in prison, serving a life sentence for a murder he says he didn’t commit. Against the odds, the two fell in love.