Paul Nursey, President and CEO of Destination Greater Victoria
The summer months are traditionally the high season for visitors to come to Greater Victoria. The weather is warm, and kids are not in school. Despite some uneven numbers through the spring months once we moved to Step 3 of the Province’s restart plan, Greater Victoria began to see an uptick in visitors. However, the business environment is different than previous years, and Destination Greater Victoria must carefully manage the increased visitation.
We want our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to be “wide and deep.” Wide in that we touch all market segments and deep in that we understand how richly the visitor economy touches Greater Victoria. Visitors have largely arrived from BC with some from the rest of Canada. Recovery has not been wide – at least yet. The Canada-US border re-opened August 9 and it is our hope we will begin to see increased levels of American visitation again. Fully vaccinated non-American International travelers should begin to arrive September 7.
Destination Greater Victoria is positioning our industry for a “deep” recovery. We are not Expedia, Yelp, Google Travel or Airbnb. We are the local tourism board and care passionately about the community’s small businesses; we are not here to commodify our home – we are here to work with and support our member businesses. As the official tourism board in Greater Victoria we are a niche player ensuring all members benefit in the “tourism ecosystem,” as opposed to maximizing profits for select members.
Examples of this approach are programs such as Dine Around & Stay in Town Victoria, which benefits all restaurants that chose to participate. We also publish blogs – pushing advertising calls to action which fastidiously showcase the breadth and depth of our experiences. Our marketing campaigns lead with some of our best images in the metaphorical “store window,” pushing potential customers to our website where all member offerings are neatly arranged on the shelves (through listings). We convert people from potential customers to visitors through our digital environment.
Just as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Greater Victoria visitor economy were wide and deep, so must the recovery be wide and deep as well. This is where Destination Greater Victoria plays a pivotal role moving forward. Our efforts will ensure that all member businesses that are truly invested in the community will benefit from the forthcoming recovery.
Paul Nursey is the President and CEO of Destination Greater Victoria
