Hundreds of thousands of dollars were no doubt spent by military personnel during the U.S. Navy’s visit to Victoria over the weekend, said the president of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce.
Bruce Carter said if each of the 3,000 personnel aboard the USS Nimitz and accompanying friends and family spent just $50 each — on food, alcohol or souvenirs — that’s almost $170,000 right there.
“It has a massive impact on the downtown because of the sheer number of people coming in there,” Carter said.
The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, based in Everett, Washington, and named after Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet during the Second World War, arrived Friday and left Monday. It was anchored off the mouth of Esquimalt Harbour.
Capt. Jeff Ruth said he’s long wanted to visit the capital city.
“We pass by here every time we get underway, thinking ‘Wow, it would be great to pull into Victoria.’ So we’re pleased to be here,” Ruth said.
The aircraft carrier has a crew of about 3,000; 2,200 were allowed off the ship at any one time with at least 800 needed to stay behind and operate and protect the vessel. An additional 400 family and friends joined the sailors on the trip to Victoria and took alternate transport home.
Ken Kelly, general manager of the Downtown Victoria Business Association, said new electronic traffic counters recently installed downtown showed 11,000 people. On a great day it’s about 8,000, he said. Three cruise ships were also in town over the weekend.
“For the DVBA and the downtown business community, the Nimitz was the icing on the cake for a very good weekend — maybe some businesses would say it was the cake,” Kelly said.
Darlene Hollstein, general manager of the Bay Centre, said it’s hard to peg the dollar amount of the overall economic impact from the sailors’ business, “but I haven’t heard anyone complaining,” Hollstein said.
Business in Bay Centre was very constant and spread out through the days, she said.
“The only disappointing thing was the weather being a bit chilly and not as great as it could have been,” Hollstein said.
Brett McNalty, manager of the Bard and Banker pub on Government Street, said food sales especially through the lunch hour were hopping Friday through Sunday.
“They were here in droves for lunch,” McNalty said. “We did really well in the nights and days they were around. They weren’t solely responsible for that, but they were definitely a contributing factor,” he said.
Notable about their visit was how “responsible and respectful” they were, McNalty said. “There were a lot of sirs and ma’ams.”
Father’s Day isn’t usually a moneymaker at the Red Lion Inn and Suites, which bills itself as Victoria’s most popular sports lounge, but is also known locally for exotic dancing at the Fox Showroom pub. However, this Sunday was an exception.
“Sales were greatly increased on Father’s Day. If you compare it to Father’s Day last year, there was probably a 300 to 400 per cent increase,” said Donnie Black, manager of the Red Lion. “Otherwise, it could have been a very slow day.”
The rest of the days were also busy and coincided with a U.S. pay-per-view of an Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Hollstein said some businesses might have seen a bit less of the sailors because they were so involved in giving back to the community.
The crew reached out to the homeless by serving lunch at Our Place shelter in Victoria on Saturday.
Members of the Royal Canadian Navy competed against their American counterparts in sporting events at CFB Esquimalt’s athletic fields on Colville Road on Saturday.
Attracting such a visit usually begins by word of mouth — a sailor or captain having seen or heard good things about the city and proposing a visit, Carter said.
“So the most important thing is that we’re welcoming to these folks,” he said. While sailors visit a lot of ports, it’s not often they get a city that’s both so safe and friendly, he said.
