With the easing of restrictions, the tourism industry is likely to flourish in a time of expected peak season.

The tourism industry and port authorities expect to arrange more ships to dock in Vancouver this year compared with 2019.

By early April the first cruise ship in two years is scheduled to set sail for a round trip from Vancouver to Alaska and port authorities are hoping for more cruise ships to pass through B.C port than they did in 2019.

According to the tourism industry, it is one of the highly optimistic signs that B.C is expected to rebound after being so badly weakened by COVID-19. The relaxation of the pandemic restriction and the dropping of the federal requirement for a PCR test for incoming visitors help tourism growth this year.

It costs $ 3.3 million to the local economy for each cruise ship to dock in Vancouver. And the Port of Vancouver says that there are almost more than 300 cruise ships that are expected at B.C ports this year.

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“That is incredibly significant,” said Royce Chwin, CEO of Destination Vancouver, a tourism industry association. “With these cruise ships on Ports, economic activities will grow manifold. That will be a higher driver to bring back a massive amount equivalent to $ 14 billion that tourism produces in Metro Vancouver.”

He said this week’s announcement made by the provincial health officer Dr.Bonnie Henry to remove restrictions that were enforced in the wake of Pandemic for avenues, indoor gatherings, including bars, restaurants, and night clubs will also rebuild and promote tourism.

“These announcements were highly encouraging and important,” she said.

He said the atmosphere of fear COVID has not yet completely vanished, “we have learned a valuable lesson from the restrictions of the Pandemic and how to manage it.”

The current rate of the increasing inclinations of the public towards tourism is highly promising.  After COVID restrictions, the people are impatient to travel, see and explore new faces and heights of landscapes to relieve the isolation stress and feel relaxed.  Based on the survey conducted online found that travel agents are getting a lot of customers who are rebooking their trips for 2022 which were cancelled in 2021.

“People are increasingly booking for trips,” she said.

A positive response is coming from overseas which reflects the splendid comeback of international tourism. Destination B.C., responsible for marketing B.C to Canada and the world abroad is likely to launch a worldwide mostly digital campaign in the next few weeks in B.C., Ontario, California, Washington State, Australia, and the UK, she said.

She appreciated the initiative of replacing the PCR test with the rapid antigen test for incoming tourists and travelers on March 1 by Ottawa. She said the initiative will surely help recovery which is less costly, more accurate, and convenient.