2012 shaping up to be a good year, Tourism Vancouver predicts
New fl ights, more cruise ship sailings expected to contribute to growth in visitor volumes
Visits are expected to rise nearly two per cent in 2012 over 2011, according to Tourism Vancouver. “We’re reasonably pleased with how the numbers are shaping up given the [ economic] storm clouds on the horizon,” Tourism Vancouver’s executive vice- president Paul Vallee said Monday.
“That would be approximately 8.4 million visitors, up from 8.27 million in 2011, about 1.6 per cent more.”
Tourism Vancouver, which recently launched its 2012 sales and marketing plan, said that 2012 will be a year of marketplace strengths, with new inbound flights, an increase in cruise ship sailings, growing confidence among U. S. travellers and a buoyancy in international markets to help offset the lingering effects of a recession that has hurt the tourism industry since 2008.
The marketing organization expects China, India and Australia to show strong growth in 2012, along with additional growth from the U. S. and the U. K.
Vallee said that although the overall number of Chinese tourists is still relatively small — about 132,000 in 2012 — that’s still nine per cent more than 2011.
“Economically, the U. S. seems to be showing some signs of life [ and] there’s continuing growth in the Asian market, including China.”
Markets that showed the strongest growth in 2011 included China (+ 14 per cent), Mexico (+ 17 per cent), Brazil (+ 13 per cent) and Australia (+ 3 per cent).
The lack of an Olympic stimulus, low consumer confidence in the United States, soft demand in Europe, plus the earthquake and tsunami in Japan all contributed to lower overnight visitor volumes to Vancouver last year compared with 2010, Tourism Vancouver said.
The organization said there should be a slight increase in cruise passengers to 670,000, with Princess Cruises adding one more ship to their Vancouver fleet and other cruise lines adding port calls.
Virgin Atlantic is launching a new non- stop flight between London and Vancouver, and additional air service is expected from Sichuan Airlines ( China) sometime in early 2012.
Tourism Vancouver also noted that 2011 was Vancouver’s strongest convention year in history, with the city hosting 25 citywide conventions and delegates spending $ 92.6 million.
It said major new convention business has been secured for future years, including New York Life Insurance Company ( 2012), Cruise Lines International Association ( 2013), and SIGGRAPH ( rebooked for 2014).
“This year won’t be as strong [ for conventions] as 2011, but it will still be pretty strong,” Vallee said.
Despite Tourism Vancouver’s optimism, Central 1 Credit Union economist Bryan Yu said in The Vancouver Sun Saturday that although international tourist visits to B. C. rebounded in November following an October dip and U. S. visits have edged higher since July, the tourist market hasn’t generated any significant upward traction since the recession ( with the exception of the Olympic Winter Games), and this weak state is expected to persist through 2012.
“Global economic uncertainty, a weak [ albeit improving] U. S. labour market and the elevated Canadian dollar do not bode well for a rebound in tourist visits over the next year,” he said.