Ahoy! Vancouver welcomes first cruise ship of 2018 season
Port of Vancouver expects 7% passenger increase in 2018
For cruise ship season in Vancouver, it's anchors aweigh.
Vancouver welcomed its first ship of the season, the 3,100-passenger Star Princess, which docked at Canada Place on Tuesday morning.
Ty Speer, CEO of Tourism Vancouver, says it's just the start of what could be a solid year for the local tourism industry.
"We're really a destination with some fantastic momentum," he said. "We're a welcoming city, we're well set up for tourists and we know how to take care of our tourists. And we get really good feedback."
Speer says cruise ship passengers are an important part of the Metro Vancouver tourism industry, which supports 65,000 jobs and contributes $5 billion annually to the local economy.
In total, 32 ships will make port calls in Vancouver and each one generates an average of almost $3 million in direct economic activity, the Port of Vancouver said in a statement.
Largest vessel ever
Cruise ship passengers, Speer said, largely come from the U.S. but an increasing number are coming from China, Mexico, the U.K., Germany, Japan and Australia.
They spend time — and money — on the city's big-name attractions, he said: the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Grouse Mountain, Stanley Park and Granville Island.
In total, the Port of Vancouver estimates 895,000 tourists will come to the city by cruise ship in 2018 — an uptick of seven per cent.
Of note will be the arrival of Norwegian Bliss, a 4,000-passenger vessel that will be the largest ever to visit the city. It will dock in Vancouver on Sept. 30.
The port also says it will hold a ceremony for Vancouver's 25 millionth cruise passenger, who is set to arrive on a Holland America vessel in May.