Cruise travel boost forecast for the next year
As docking of Princess Cruises’ Star Princess at Ogden Point marks the end of the cruise season, the harbor authority expects more tourists for next year
The increase in the Alaskan cruise market and the rising of Victoria as a destination port made this year's figures to outcome 2014 for cruise-ship traveling.
According to the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority data, the harbor welcomed 227 ship visits and about 533,000 passengers in 2015, a record year if considering the chief executive officer Ian Robertson's statement:
“It’s a record year for number of ships and number of passengers coming into Victoria.
“We had one ship that decided to drop one port of call in Alaska to spend more time in Victoria.
“So that means the feedback is coming back to the cruise lines that the passengers like Victoria and they want to spend more time here.”
The authorities expect an even bigger number of passengers in 2016, as the Royal Caribbean International’s Explorer of the Seas outstanding 3.100 guests capacity ship will stop 21 times at Ogden Point next year. An estimated extra $1.3 million influx is expected for the capital region.
In David Cowen's opinion, chairman of Tourism Victoria, this year’s cruise season greatly contributed to increase the overall tourism numbers, with strong tourist boost from US, China, Australia and the United Kingdom:
“Our hotel occupancy has been up about four per cent and we’ve seen a good healthy increase in our average daily room rate, which is a good indication that hotels have been busy.
“Globally, tourism is a trillion dollar sector. It’s growing year after year and we’re really just starting to get our share.”
The next cruising season will begin April 3rd and will end on October 17th.
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