With every cruise ship docking in the Vancouver Harbour over a million dollars in fresh revenue flows into the city. The ships sail in, the ships sail out, and as the wave of revenue retreats the many pools of cash it leaves behind are vital to the city’s prosperity. In Hope, cash flows in a steady stream right past us along the local highways.
We are not blessed with a destination-sized natural or manmade attraction. But we are blessed in location; the first mountain wilderness community at the city gates
We may not have one big jewel but a handful of small ones like Hell’s Gate and Othello Tunnels. Together we have a strong package to market.
What is vital to that package are the sports, cultural, historic and wilderness programs offered by, for example, the Hope Golf Club, the Hope Mountain Centre, and the Yale Historical Society. And along with these solid contributors, are our once plentiful special events that flood the town with fresh faces and fresh revenue. But this year there will be no Hope Flightfest or International Chainsaw Carving Competition.
Events are vital to drawing in new people, but the volunteer capacity within our region is at an all time low and community events become dependent on one or two mainstay volunteers who understandably would like to occasionally take a year off or pass the reins onto another volunteer after many years of service.
These events are our cruise ships bringing in crisp new cash. They need structure and our support in order to survive.
