Could increased tanker traffic tank Vancouver's tourism industry?

Representatives of B.C.'s $15 billion tourism industry are apprehensive about the possibility of a devastating oil tanker spill if Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline goes through.

If constructed, the pipeline expansion project — which would triple the capacity of crude oil coming from Alberta — would increase tanker traffic on B.C.'s South Coast.

While Federal Minister of Transport Marc Garneau promises a plan is in place to handle new tankers as well as an extra $200 million for a marine spill response program, Tourism Vancouver CEO Ty Speer is still worried about the impact of a devastating spill.

"There's no doubt that if a spill were to happen, it would be an enormously negative impact on the industry. It would be of enormous impact to residents and to the city. There are really no arguments for anybody to say if a spill happened, it would be okay," he said.

Scott Benton, executive director of the Wilderness Tourism Association of B.C., pointed to what happened at the BP Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico as a scenario that could happen here.

"Almost immediately, tourism cancellations rolled in and continued to roll in for many years after that event," he said.

Part of the problem, Benton said, is Vancouver's brand is closely tied to a perception of a city surrounded by snow-capped mountains, lush forest, and pristine waters.

"Maintaining our image, particularly for the wilderness tourism operators in B.C., is everything," he said. "[When] you have a catastrophic event perception overtakes reality and it diminishes the brand significantly."

'Port city' part of Vancouver's identity

Even though an oil spill would be a catastrophic event, Speer said balancing that risk is part of the trade off of being a great tourism city.

"The great cities of the world more often than not have been great trading cities and have been cities that access the water and have used the water to move goods back and forth ... Ultimately they've turned out to be great tourism cities," he said.

Speer said while transporting fossil fuels is a sensitive issue,  he believes Vancouver can achieve balance as a port city and a tourism city.

"There's an opportunity for those to complement each other."

As for Benton, he said he's looking for more reassurance from the federal government that the spill response will be adequate.

"We're not against the pipeline per se, what we're looking for is the risk to be minimized to the extent possible both for the terminus and pipeline and shipping," he said. 

At present, Vancouver handles five tankers per month. According to Kinder Morgan, once the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project is completed, tanker traffic could increase to around 34 tankers per month.

With files from The Early Edition

To listen to the interview, click on the link labelled What would an oil tanker spill mean for B.C.'s $15 billion tourism industry?