Victoria tourism industry struggles as travel spending drops
Staff at Victoria Carriage Tours, a horse-drawn carriage company stationed beside the B.C. legislature, say business hasn’t been as brisk as past summers.
“It’s been less busy this summer, compared to past,” said Lucy, an employee signing up customers Thursday. “A lot of business we get is from cruise ship passengers.”
Michael Hill is a jewelry merchant in the Inner Harbour, another traditional hotbed for visitors. He says sales are slower than usual this summer.
“I’ve noticed people spending a little bit less money,” said Hill “I've just started seeing the families out, so the families weren't travelling much in June.”
A new poll released Thursday by Nanos Research shows that more Canadians are planning to spend less on summer travel this year, or are putting vacation plans on hold altogether.
The poll indicates 38 per cent of those surveyed are more likely to spend less this summer on travel. That figure is up from the 31 per cent of Canadians surveyed in 2015 who said they planned to spend less on travel.
Paul Nursey is the head of Destination Greater Victoria. He says the tourism industry in the capital is still likely on pace to match its strong performance in 2022, but it won't exceed that.
“The first half of this year was very strong, but we are seeing some softening,” said Nursey Thursday. “Households are starting to see higher mortgage rates, those types of things.”
Trips abroad are also taking a hit. Fifty-seven per cent of those surveyed aren’t interested in travelling internationally this summer, meaning the tourism industry now hopes locals will make up the difference through staycations or local domestic travel as all Canadians contend with inflation and interest rate hikes.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Board orders deportation for trucker in horrific Humboldt Broncos crash
The truck driver who caused the horrific bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team has been ordered to be deported.
Italian teenage computer wizard set to become the first saint of the millennial generation
Pope Francis paved the way for the canonization of the first saint of the millennial generation on Thursday, attributing a second miracle to a 15-year-old Italian computer whiz who died of leukemia in 2006.
Milk sold in Canadian grocery stores tested for avian influenza; results released
As avian flu spreads south of the border, Canadian officials are now testing samples of milk sold in grocery stores across the country.
Morgan Spurlock, Oscar-nominated director of 'Super Size Me,' dies at 53
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, an Oscar-nominee who made food and American diets his life's work, famously eating only at McDonald's for a month to illustrate the dangers of a fast-food diet, has died. He was 53.
'A really bad car crash': Why health experts are raising concerns over surging syphilis cases
A sexually transmitted infection (STI) that was once thought to be a thing of the past is now a public health priority for North American doctors.
Top Russian military officials are being arrested. Why is it happening?
It began last month with the arrest of a Russian deputy defense minister. Then the head of the ministry’s personnel directorate was hauled into court. This week, two more senior military officials were detained. All face charges of corruption, which they have denied.
Leaving time on the table: Surveys show unused paid vacation, 'quiet vacationing'
'Quiet vacationing' is the latest new term to describe the rough edges of office culture, and survey data shows it's widespread among North American workers.
Toddler dies after being struck by recycling truck in Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood
A toddler has died after being struck by a recycling truck in a Barrie, Ont. neighbourhood on Thursday afternoon.
Helicopters, impersonations and squeezing through the fence: a brief history of Quebec prison escapes
Friday's warrant for prison inmate Yacine Zouaoui, 32, is the latest in hundreds of reported prison breaks in Quebec. Sometimes, they just walked away; sometimes they went through a fence, and twice they used a helicopter.