Victoria's beleaguered tourism sector is taking desperate measures to attract visitors, in the wake of BC Ferries move to hike ferry tickets by as much as 18 per cent on August 1st.
Starting Monday, Tourism Victoria is partnering with BC Ferries to offer a one-time promotion for August travel -- book two nights accommodation in Greater Victoria and Tourism Victoria will pay your way there.
Aimed at benefitting ferry users and the island economy, the move comes as B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon was talking Thursday about ferry service cutbacks to help soften the impact of rising fuel costs.
But B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell was also ruling out any relief on ticket prices for residents of Vancouver Island.
"Obviosuly we'd all like to watch as gas prices go down significantly, but for the time being I think the rates are there,'' Campbell said.
"The minister will look at what's available in terms of action,'' he said. "We're improving the ferry fleet, we're upgrading the ferry fleet for virtually all of the users, so right now I don't see any short term solutions."
For more information, click on the Tourism Victoria website.
With a report by CTV British Columbia's Renu Bakshi.
