For immediate release


Vancouver--- The Vancouver-Alaska cruise sector posted its second consecutive decline in passengers and sailings in 2004, following 20 years of annual growth.
Revenue passengers declined by 2.5 per cent last year from 953,376 in 2003 to 929,976 in 2004. The Port of Vancouver hosted 286 cruise vessel calls in 2004, a seven per cent decline from the 307 sailings from the city in 2003. The Port of Vancouver's cruise business peaked in 2002 with 1,125,252 paying passengers and 342 sailings.

"The decline in sailings was expected," said Captain Gordon Houston, President and Chief Executive Officer, Vancouver Port Authority, noting that the Port of Seattle added an additional cruise ship berth for the 2004 season. "The good news is the total number of revenue passengers passing through the Port of Vancouver was actually higher than anticipated evidence, I think, of a strengthening global travel industry."

Houston said the performance of Vancouver's cruise sector does not reflect an overall decline in the Pacific Northwest cruise market. Rather, he said, it is a symptom of growing competition from the Port of Seattle.

"The Port of Vancouver was the first port in this part of the world to develop world-class cruise infrastructure, and as a result we enjoyed a near monopoly when Alaska debuted as a cruise theatre in the 1980s," he said. "In the last two to three years, the Port of Seattle has opened two new cruise ship berths and attracted 140 annual sailings in part because they were able to offer weekend embarkations when ours were fully subscribed."

"The Port of Vancouver is still the preferred destination for the vast majority of passengers cruising to Alaska, but we face more and more competition each year to maintain that status," said David Stowe, Chairman, Vancouver Port Authority.
The VPA is pursuing several initiatives to diversify and expand the Port of Vancouver's cruise business. This includes Cruise BC, a collaborative effort on the part of five port authorities and coastal communities to develop new cruise products in B.C.

Houston said the VPA is pursuing other strategies to address the growing competition from Seattle and other Pacific Northwest ports as well, but cautioned that solutions must be found in partnership with business and tourism interests.
"The VPA and the Port of Vancouver aren't the only beneficiaries of a growing cruise sector our hotels, restaurants and other travel and hospitality businesses benefit," he said. "So while we're certainly committed to finding solutions that will expand our cruise capacity and help grow our dominant share of the Alaska market, those solutions are going to have to be found in partnership with provincial and regional travel and tourism interests."

"Cruise business is certainly not something we take for granted," said Tourism Vancouver chair Paul Tilbury. "We appreciate how important it is, and we're working with our partners to ensure our cruise industry remains healthy."

The Port of Vancouver is homeport to Alaska cruises through Canada's magnificent Inside Passage, with two modern cruise ship terminals: Canada Place, and Ballantyne. In 2004, Vancouver's cruise business supported an estimated 4,000 direct and indirect jobs, generated $170 million in wages and $200 million in GDP.

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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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