Metro Vancouver businesses hope supportive locals keep coming as tourist crowds return

As we head into the summer tourist season, businesses and attractions across Metro Vancouver are eager for that spending. However, there are concerns from some that crowds could push away supportive locals.

Many people discovered or rediscovered what they had in their own backyard during pandemic travel restrictions, as tour buses were parked and places like Vancouver’s Granville Island emptied out, leaving more breathing room for locals.

But now that crowds of tourists are returning, some business owners are worried those locals will disappear.

“I think it is a real concern,” said Lori Falconer, a sculptor with a studio on Granville Island and president of the Granville Island Community and Business Association.

“During the pandemic there was no tourism at all and what I noticed, personally, was I had a lot of locals coming in who had maybe been thinking about buying a larger piece for some time. And those were the kind of sales that I was making — not so much the ‘pick it up and put it in your purse and take it on the plane’ sort of thing.”

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Falconer is grateful for that support and hopes those locals stick around as the world opens up.

“It was really nice to have that and really great to see how much local people love Granville Island, so we are nervous about having those people stop coming down as much. We really want to speak to that crowd, we really want to speak to the locals,” she told CityNews.

“I think that there is [a need to market to those locals]. The way that we see that marketing is reminding people of what places like Granville Island, Gastown, and the Capilano Suspension Bridge are historically for the city. I remember when Granville Island first opened and what it was for the city — it was so exciting, it was so fresh, it made the city so special. What we want to do is really tell people that this place is still there, it still belongs to all of us.”

Falconer is grateful for the crowds returning but says many business owners on Granville Island feel it is the locals they need to reach out to.

“We really want to have that as our standard base of people, actually getting their groceries here, actually doing their shopping here, visiting with the artists and buying things for their homes. Tourists are great, and Granville Island is a real tourist destination, but it’s also something for the whole city and we want locals to feel really welcome here.”

In North Vancouver, tourists are also returning to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. But it was local support that helped get the attraction through pandemic restrictions.

“I think I speak for many B.C. tourism businesses when we say how blessed and grateful we are for the B.C. resident support we have experienced during the pandemic. We do expect many of them to still be around, and we are hoping they bring visiting friends and relatives now that they are starting to visit again,” said communications manager Stacy Chala.

“Our international visitors are returning slowly — it’s great to see those cruise ships in port again — and we definitely need this rebound. The visitor economy is vital for British Columbia,” she added.

“We are hearing numbers won’t return to 2019 levels for a number of years, but we are hopeful maybe it will be a little bit sooner than that. We are looking forward to this summer. It definitely will not be typical attendance, but anything is better than what we’ve been experiencing.”

Chala predicts attendance levels for the suspension bridge park will return to about 70 per cent of what it would typically see prior to 2020 this summer season.

Locals could be more selective

Blogger Rebecca Bollwitt from Miss604.com believes locals who rediscovered Metro Vancouver attractions during the pandemic will keep going to them — but they may be more selective.

“I don’t think we will be avoiding them as much as being more specific about the times we visit,” she explained, adding she believes the return of tourists is actually a good thing for locals.

“It’s a benefit to us because things are now open longer, they are open more days — not just weekends — so it’s really good to see visitors coming back to the city.”

She also points to the return of Vancouver festivals and events, such as the fireworks festival, the dragon boat festival, and Theatre Under the Stars, that had been shuttered during the pandemic.

“These are local favourites that we all know about and have been waiting for … as locals we get our festivals and events back and have first pick at those.”