Vancouver: Vancouver's cruise business is adapting to change and developing new initiatives to address competitive challenges, the Vancouver Port Authority (VPA) announced today. "Transportation is an industry that can pick up and move to another port at a moment's notice. Our challenge is to attract new business by developing new cruise capacity, new itineraries and new experiences to diversify this important sector." said Captain Gordon Houston, President and Chief Executive Officer, VPA.


This year's cruise season begins today with the arrival of Holland America's Amsterdam. In total, the Port of Vancouver will welcome 287 sailings aboard 33 ships. Last year saw 953,376 revenue passengers aboard 307 sailings.


"While our cruise sector continues to face challenges, we have a long term strategy to maintain our lead as a secure home port and gain market share," Houston said. The VPA is currently examining the feasibility of added capacity in the cruise sector at the Port of Vancouver. It is also part of a consortium of coastal communities and ports that have come together to form Cruise BC. Together, Cruise BC is promoting new cruise itineraries in the province to diversify business and elevate B.C.'s profile as a cruise destination.


The VPA is also increasing its marketing efforts to the travel industry with its partners Tourism Vancouver, Tourism British Columbia and the Vancouver International Airport Authority. Stephen Pearce, Vice President, Leisure Travel and Destination Management, Tourism Vancouver states that growing future business will be a function of positioning Vancouver as an essential component of a cruise experience. "Our research tells us we have a 'must-see' destination that passengers want an opportunity to explore."


This year, the Port will see seven ships new to Vancouver. "Cruise lines continue to choose Vancouver over other destinations for some of their newest ships. Those investments underscore our own faith that this sector and our port hold untapped economic opportunities for this region. We're confident that we can increase the number of revenue passengers by more than 25 per cent in the years ahead," said Houston. Every cruise ship that sails through the Port of Vancouver is worth $1.5 million to the Canadian economy.


The Port of Vancouver is Canada's largest and most diversified port, trading $29 billion in goods with more than 90 trading economies each year. Port activities generate 62,000 jobs in total with $1.6 billion in Gross Domestic Product and $3.5 billion in economic output. Last year, 66.7 million tonnes were shipped through the Port of Vancouver.



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For more information, please contact:

Anne McMullin,
Director, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
Vancouver Port Authority
(604) 665-9069 (office)
(604) 665-9073 (fax)
(604) 218-1403 (cellular)
anne.mcmullin@portvancouver.com

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