Tourism

Tim Sangha, a member of the Nanaimo-based business partnership that has owned the Scarlet Ibis Pub and Restaurant since November 2020, presents a carving by woodcarver Rick Rotar of the Ibis business logo to Patricia Gwynne who owned and operated the Island’s most remote pub for more than 40 years. (Scarlet Ibis image)

New business partners breathe new life into Vancouver Island’s most remote pub

Scarlet Ibis Pub and Restaurant in Holberg is edge of civilization for wilderness adventurers

Tim Sangha, a member of the Nanaimo-based business partnership that has owned the Scarlet Ibis Pub and Restaurant since November 2020, presents a carving by woodcarver Rick Rotar of the Ibis business logo to Patricia Gwynne who owned and operated the Island’s most remote pub for more than 40 years. (Scarlet Ibis image)
Spinal Cord Injury BC will be conducting in-person assessments of different tourism businesses in the Lower Mainland, Sea-to-Sky and Sunshine Coast, giving advice on how they can improve access and inclusion for disabled folks (PattiRey/Pixabay.com)

New partnership looks to make B.C.’s tourism industry more disability-friendly

Spinal Cord Injury BC working with tourism businesses to help them identify accessibility gaps

Spinal Cord Injury BC will be conducting in-person assessments of different tourism businesses in the Lower Mainland, Sea-to-Sky and Sunshine Coast, giving advice on how they can improve access and inclusion for disabled folks (PattiRey/Pixabay.com)
Sunny days are back again for businesses feeding off Ucluelet’s Wild Pacific Trail and the other attractions of Vancouver Island’s Pacific Rim. (John McKinley photo)

`Life is getting back to normal’ for tourism on Vancouver Island’s Pacific Rim

Residents remain cautious with COVID as businesses struggle with staffing as visitors flood back

  • Jun 1, 2022
Sunny days are back again for businesses feeding off Ucluelet’s Wild Pacific Trail and the other attractions of Vancouver Island’s Pacific Rim. (John McKinley photo)
FILE - Elvis impersonator Brendan Paul, right, walks down the aisle during a wedding ceremony for Katie Salvatore, center, and Eric Wheeler at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. Authentic Brands Group (ABG) sent cease-and-desist letters earlier this month to multiple chapels, saying they had to comply by the end of May, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

Company to Las Vegas chapels: No more Elvis-themed weddings

Authentic Brands Group sent cease-and-desist letters in early May to multiple chapels

FILE - Elvis impersonator Brendan Paul, right, walks down the aisle during a wedding ceremony for Katie Salvatore, center, and Eric Wheeler at the Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. Authentic Brands Group (ABG) sent cease-and-desist letters earlier this month to multiple chapels, saying they had to comply by the end of May, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)
Jock Finlayson is a senior policy advisor with the Business Council of British Columbia.

FINLAYSON: Taming the inflation monster

‘Canadian policymakers should support the Bank of Canada’s efforts to get inflation back to 2 per cent’

  • Jun 1, 2022
Jock Finlayson is a senior policy advisor with the Business Council of British Columbia.
Melanie Mark, MLA elect for Vancouver-Mt Pleasant, speaks with media after becoming the first First Nations woman to serve in the legislature as she looks up at family and friends during a swearing in ceremony at legislature on Wednesday, February 17, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

MARK: B.C.’s tourism industry paddles out of the pandemic storm, ready to welcome visitors

‘The recovery of the tourism industry is bringing a new challenge for operators in B.C.’

  • May 27, 2022
Melanie Mark, MLA elect for Vancouver-Mt Pleasant, speaks with media after becoming the first First Nations woman to serve in the legislature as she looks up at family and friends during a swearing in ceremony at legislature on Wednesday, February 17, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Eldo Enns rides his penny farthing bicycle in Dawson City, Yukon, on Friday June 19, 2009. Yukon’s tourism industry is abuzz with anticipation as Canada’s northernmost border opens June 1 for the first time since the pandemic began, says the executive director of the Klondike Visitors Association in Dawson City.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Eldo Enns rides his penny farthing bicycle in Dawson City, Yukon, on Friday June 19, 2009. Yukon’s tourism industry is abuzz with anticipation as Canada’s northernmost border opens June 1 for the first time since the pandemic began, says the executive director of the Klondike Visitors Association in Dawson City.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Citizen scientists in the Gulf Islands are worried humpback whales are being stressed by too much time with whale watching vessels. (Black Press Media file photo)

Citizen science whale observers worry humpbacks being harassed

One mother whale and her calf followed for upwards of 5 hours a day recently, says volunteer group

  • May 16, 2022
Citizen scientists in the Gulf Islands are worried humpback whales are being stressed by too much time with whale watching vessels. (Black Press Media file photo)
Guide Eli Schellenberg, in red, leads climbers down from the summit of the Mt. Norquay Via Ferrata near Banff, Alta., Thursday, June 20, 2019. Even as gas prices hit record highs, Canadians are fanning out across the country for fresh travel experiences after two years of bottled-up demand. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Canadians hold their noses at gas prices as they hit the road, skies once again

Some tourism operators expected to double down on domestic markets

Guide Eli Schellenberg, in red, leads climbers down from the summit of the Mt. Norquay Via Ferrata near Banff, Alta., Thursday, June 20, 2019. Even as gas prices hit record highs, Canadians are fanning out across the country for fresh travel experiences after two years of bottled-up demand. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Remi Vande Weghe and his dog Maya were setting out for Dog Creek on April 30, 2022 from Williams Lake, as part of a tour through western Canada back home to Quebec. (Ruth Lloyd photo - Williams Lake Tribune)

Bicycle tourist rides through B.C. with his dog en route back to Quebec

Remy Vande Weghe is taking his dog Maya for a very long ride

Remi Vande Weghe and his dog Maya were setting out for Dog Creek on April 30, 2022 from Williams Lake, as part of a tour through western Canada back home to Quebec. (Ruth Lloyd photo - Williams Lake Tribune)
Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson, president of Prairie Sky Gondola, is pictured at the location for a proposed urban gondola in Edmonton on Friday, April 29, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Cities in Western Canada consider gondolas as part of transit, tourism plans

Projects a way to move people across waterways or get tourists up mountainsides

Jeffrey Hansen-Carlson, president of Prairie Sky Gondola, is pictured at the location for a proposed urban gondola in Edmonton on Friday, April 29, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
The city of Penticton didn’t renew the lease of the Peach to Diana Stirling and instead gave it to a company out of Alberta. (The Peach photo)

The Peach is no more: Penticton awards lease of the iconic stand to Alberta company

Penticton’s Diana Stirling said she is heartbroken by the news

The city of Penticton didn’t renew the lease of the Peach to Diana Stirling and instead gave it to a company out of Alberta. (The Peach photo)
Vivek Sharma, CEO of Fairmont Hot Springs Resort. (TIABC/YouTube)

CEO under fire for telling women at B.C. conference to ‘clean some rooms and do some dishes’

Vivek Sharma, CEO of Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, made the comments at an industry conference on March 9

Vivek Sharma, CEO of Fairmont Hot Springs Resort. (TIABC/YouTube)
B.C. hopes to attract marquee events and conferences to boost the tourism economy. (File photo)

B.C. announces further supports to revitalize tourism economy

Funding aimed at attracting events, conferences and training workers

B.C. hopes to attract marquee events and conferences to boost the tourism economy. (File photo)
Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance announced the Fraser River Discovery Centre will receive $150,000 from the federal Tourism Relief Fund on March 10, 2022. (Cole Schisler/Black Press)

VIDEO: Federal tourism relief fund begins rolling out to B.C. operators

The Fraser River Discovery Centre was the first B.C. organization to receive funding

Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance announced the Fraser River Discovery Centre will receive $150,000 from the federal Tourism Relief Fund on March 10, 2022. (Cole Schisler/Black Press)
Ethel Bell, co-founder of Three Valley Gap, was also a very talented musician and an athlete who loved playing football. (Contributed by Rene Bell Bourget)

‘She will be missed’: Ethel Bell, co-founder of Three Valley Gap hotel, dies at 88

Bell and her late husband, Gordon Bell, built the Three Valley Lake Chateau in the 1950’s

Ethel Bell, co-founder of Three Valley Gap, was also a very talented musician and an athlete who loved playing football. (Contributed by Rene Bell Bourget)
Plans are underway for a project that would see a gondola built near Vernon, climbing 1,600 feet above Kalamalka Lake. (Ridge North America photo)

Gondola proposed in the Okanagan overlooking Kalamalka Lake

The Okanagan Gondola, a project by developers of Golden Skybridge, is pending approval from the RDNO

Plans are underway for a project that would see a gondola built near Vernon, climbing 1,600 feet above Kalamalka Lake. (Ridge North America photo)
The West Coast Women’s Show is among numerous events held annually at Tradex in Abbotsford. A local residents’ group is planning to submit a bid for the operation of the facility that would include continuing to hold trade and consumer shows. (Abbotsford News file photo)

B.C. tourism, events industry receives $9.3M in government supports

Funds intended to support new tourism workers, restart conferences and business events

The West Coast Women’s Show is among numerous events held annually at Tradex in Abbotsford. A local residents’ group is planning to submit a bid for the operation of the facility that would include continuing to hold trade and consumer shows. (Abbotsford News file photo)
People wear face masks to curb the spread of COVID-19 while visiting the Christmas Market in Vancouver, on Thursday, December 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

FINLAYSON: B.C.’s economy has largely healed, thankfully

Over the last 18 months, overall economic production has rebounded, writes Jock Finlayson

  • Dec 24, 2021
People wear face masks to curb the spread of COVID-19 while visiting the Christmas Market in Vancouver, on Thursday, December 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
(Canadian Press photo)

Travel, tourism sectors see glimmers of hope amid Omicron uncertainty

Many Canadians second-guessing their travel plans as information trickles out about Omicron

(Canadian Press photo)