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
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
WATCH LIVE As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Disappointment widespread over budget's proposed $200-month disability benefit funding
Advocacy groups across Canada are expressing widespread disappointment about the amount of funding earmarked in the 2024 federal budget for the long-awaited Canada Disability Benefit.
Former Sask. massage therapist who sexually assaulted clients has day parole revoked
A former massage therapist who pleaded guilty to a string of sexual assaults has had his day parole revoked.