Victoria is a well known hot spot for cruise ships and is the natural port of choice for cruise ships that are on their way up the coast to Alaska.
This year, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) says that as of October 29th, this year’s cruise season has welcomed more than 970,000 visitors via cruise ships.
“Welcoming close to one million cruise passengers to our incredible city and region positively impacts the visitor economy,” says Robert Lewis-Manning, CEO of GVHA.
“We are grateful to the many local businesses, tour operators and cruise lines for making Victoria a vibrant destination.”
Ogden Point accommodated 326 cruise ships, which is three less than 2022’s cruise season saw but despite this, there were 26% more visitors aboard those vessels this year due to higher ship occupancy.
This year, the city also hit a very important milestone at Ogden Point.
Victoria’s Mayor joined GVHA partners and leaders to welcome the 10 millionth passenger to visit Victoria via a cruise ship this year.
Aboard a ship of thousands, it is difficult to determine who exactly on that vessel gets the honour of being the 10 millionth to visit, so two couples were given the honorary title of ten millionth passengers.
The two couples chosen were a couple from the UK travelling with their teenage daughter along with a local Victoria couple enjoying their first cruise experience.
Related:
- Ogden Point welcomes its 10 millionth cruise ship passenger (PHOTOS)
- Greater Victoria Harbour Authority shakes off two-year slump with $5.4M surplus
This year also saw four ships celebrate their inaugural trips to Victoria.
The Carnival Luminosa, L’Austral, MS Insignia and Scenic Eclipse were all welcomed to the city with open arms by the GVHA and they were each gifted a plaque in line with traditions.
However, one vessel, the Celebrity Solstice, completed its last voyage to Victoria this summer.
It has visited Victoria every year since its inaugural call to the city in 2013 and it brought almost half a million visitors to Victoria by itself.
The GVHA says that based on a 2019 Economic Impact Study, cruise ship visitors spend an average of $86 each while on shore in the city.
In a year, this includes around $23.7 million on tours and local transportation, $14.6 million on retail goods, and $6.7 million on food and beverages.
In addition to this, the ships’ crew members who disembark while the ship is docked spend an average of $117 per member.
This contributes approximately $11.4 million to the local economy, according to the GVHA.
As for what benefits are brought to the GVHA, cruise ships bring in around $84 million on services such as transportation, warehousing, port fees, ship agents and dock contractors.
The cruise ships that visit every year are an undisputed powerhouse at creating jobs for local Victorians too. The GVHA says that 807 annual jobs are created by hosting the cruise liners, generating approximately $40.4 million.
