Cruise Visits Keep Picking Up Steam in British Columbia Ports

The 2006 cruise season in Canada’s British Columbia contributed more than $1.25 billion to the BC economy and almost $90 million in direct and indirect taxes.

Almost 1.3 million passengers visited BC ports as 2006 continued the trend of growth for ports along the West Coast while the overall strength of the industry remained consistent with 2005.

The Greater Victoria Harbor Authority hosted 182 ships calls, the highest number of port calls yet. With 334,570 revenue passengers 2006 represented an 8 percent increase in passengers over 2005.

The Port of Nanaimo was delighted with this year’s passenger totals, representing a 28 percent increase over 2005. Expectations for 2007 are high. Nanaimo received 33 cruise visits from large and pocket cruises with over 20,000 passengers passing through the Port during the 2006 season.

Vancouver Port Authority recorded 837,900 revenue passengers (calculation based on a new formula of statistics backgrounder available upon request) with 253 vessel calls through the Port of Vancouver in 2006.

Forecasts for 2007 through 2010 indicate that these numbers will climb back to levels of over 1,000,000 revenue passengers.

The 2006 cruise season again featured Celebrity Cruises` vessel Mercury and new itineraries that focused on British Columbia destinations. The itineraries included ports of call at Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo, and Prince Rupert and have received high praise from Celebrity representatives.

Formed in 2002, Cruise BC Association is a partnership between BC ports, destination marketing organizations, Western Economic Diversification Canada and the Ministry of Tourism, Sport and the Arts.