The total number of visitors coming to Vancouver Island is down everywhere this summer except in Greater Victoria, says a travel and tourism agency for the region.
4TVI president Brian Cant said overall summer travel to Vancouver Island is about four to five per cent lower than it was in 2023.
Cant said it is hard to draw any conclusions about Vancouver Island from aggregate numbers.
People he talks to in the tourism industry have yet to signal any major concerns, and visitor satisfaction metrics remain high, he said.
“It seems a little bit quieter this year, but everybody seems really happy. That is a really important measure for us,” he said. “Being down a few per cent over last year doesn’t indicate necessarily a trend downward.”
Greater Victoria, a tourism market that is tracked separately by Destination B.C., is an outlier at a nine per cent traveller-count increase.
Destination Greater Victoria CEO Paul Nursey said the region is leading B.C. in tourism at a time when many other cities are struggling.
Nursey said he attributes the increase to a “very, very strong” conference market and the return of international travellers, mainly coming from the U.S., U.K., Germany and Australia. “We’re not fully back, but it’s on the recovery path.”
This summer’s more reliable ferry service has helped, he said. “Last year, it seemed that every weekend there was a news cycle where there were staffing shortages and cancellations,” he said. “We lost some business at the last minute because of frustrations around the service disruption.”
Tofino Mayor Dan Law said his municipality is seeing a tax-revenue increase from purpose-built accommodation and short-term rentals this year, though that may be a reflection of an increase in accommodation costs and not visitors.
Tofino still feels busy even though prices are now higher to match inflation, he said. “If you were to walk around Tofino right now or last week, it is very full.”
“It just seems like people are a lot more careful with their money,” he said. “The restaurants, I think, are feeling a bit hit.”
Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce executive director Samantha Hackett said some travellers are still worried about regional transportation.
Getting to Tofino has never been easier after four years of road construction near Kennedy Lake and various Highway 4 repairs after the 2023 Cameron Lake wildfire, she said. “The exciting thing that we’re experiencing now is that travel is actually very easy to the West Coast — or at least easier with a nice, long drive.”
The region is also seeing more international travellers, who are less likely to spend money on big art pieces or a surfboard, she said. “They’ve got one suitcase with them.”
Cant said the average daily cost of a hotel room on Vancouver Island has remained stable, suggesting that people are still willing to pay for accommodation.
Industry reports from Aug. 5 to 11 show hotel occupancy rates on the Island were above 90 per cent, a “very healthy occupancy for this time of year,” he said.
More tourists came during this year’s August long weekend than last year, he said.
“They may be spending their money to come visit, to travel around and to stay, but then the price of things is causing them to choose different decisions while they’re here,” Cant said. “Is it fewer meals out? Is it one less attraction? Those are the really important things that we keep an eye on.”
Cant said visitor levels will likely stay strong into the fall and winter due to the Island’s temperate weather.
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