Vancouver cruise ship season kicks off March 5

In less than a month the first cruise ship of the season will dock in the waters near Canada Place in downtown Vancouver.

The vessel signals a bottom-line boost for local businesses who can’t wait for the economic spin-off tens of thousands of passengers bring to the city.

“I think we need to also remember this is probably our first full year back. Last year we had a huge construction project that had a huge impact in Gastown on Water Street that went right until the beginning of June so that cut into some of those crucial months of cruise season,” explained Elise Yurkowski, director of marketing for the Gastown Business Improvement Society.

“We have lots of new businesses that maybe haven’t seen the cruise ship foot traffic before, so they’re quite excited.”

The 2025 schedule shows more than 300 vessels will stop in the city. The industry is a key economic driver for the province. Last fall the Port of Vancouver told 1130 NewsRadio that cruise lines, their crew, and passengers spend about $1.1 billion locally every year.

“Our businesses, I know, need it. They need that,” said Yurkowski.

She points out that the last couple of years have been anything but smooth sailing.

“We know with inflation rates, we know many businesses are still even recovering from [the pandemic], that’s not something that’s completely in the past yet. So, anything helps.”

Yurkowski points out work is being done behind the scenes to market Vancouver in a bid to bring people here.

“We’re always preparing. We need people in the business. I know feet on the street are one thing, but it really comes down to: are they in the shops spending money? Are they dining out? We saw an increase during the Taylor Swift concert. We know the American dollar compared to the Canadian dollar helps. We really need people in these shops supporting them.”

In addition to hoping tourists visit, Yurkowski says there’s also some onus for nearby residents to head to Gastown and spend money year-round.

“We also need locals. Last year, I know there was a lot of messaging around construction and avoiding and don’t drive in and that created some confusion, and we really noticed a decrease in our local [trips]. A lot of Gastown businesses, specifically, are really geared towards local traffic as well. As much as we love cruise ships and love the tourist traffic, we also don’t want messaging to be, ‘Avoid it because it might be too busy.’”

The first vessel arrives on March 5, with the season set to wrap up on Oct. 21.