Vancouver’s low tourism grades spur sector reassessment

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Are you serious??

First of all these are sun destinations, but simple quick google searches find major aquariums that even include such activities as swimming with dolphins, adventure parks, water parks, small scale family amusement facilities, large military museums, etc... And then there is the simple fact that 3 hours out of Miami is Disney World and Universal Studios.

Also seeing safari parks, water parks, and other amusement parks for Palm Springs and area. Even so I have never thought of Palm Springs as an “exciting” place to visit. More of a travel destination for the nearly dead.

Then you obviously haven’t been to Palm Springs.

Vancouver’s tourist season is the summer. People come for the scenery and the outdoor activities, which is similar to a sun destination. The winter market is skiiing, which BTW is something most other major cities don’t have.

Can you imagine how dead an amusement park would be in our rainy winter? Pattison should be thankful circumstances saved him from that mistake. As Isaidso pointed out the greatest lack is probably more cultural stuff to offer as an indoor option on rainy days. But Vancouver has never been a big city for culture and truth be told Canada is probably the least cultural of the western countries.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by osirisboy

Well not having uber is part of our culture. Don't people like discovering different places and cultures??? Lol

But for real, someone is wanting to book a trip to Vancouver and then finds out we don't have uber and what? cancels?? Sorry but that is ridiculous. They May as well just stay in their bubble then

Yes, exactly. Vancouver has one of the biggest car2go fleets in the world. Lots of visitors might be members at home and this is great for them to get around. To suggest they travel here for the car2go availability is just as dumb as not coming due to Uber.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Then you obviously haven’t been to Palm Springs.

Got dragged there on summer vacation. IMO, unless your name ends with "III" or your job title starts with "retired," it's pretty damn lame.

Originally Posted by whatnext

Vancouver’s tourist season is the summer. People come for the scenery and the outdoor activities, which is similar to a sun destination. The winter market is skiiing, which BTW is something most other major cities don’t have.

In other words, a lot of visitors are here for British Columbia rather than Vancouver; they could just as easily stay in Victoria or Whistler or the Sunshine Coast or the Interior. There's a whole lot we could do to make our city just as attractive as the land around it.

Originally Posted by whatnext

Can you imagine how dead an amusement park would be in our rainy winter? Pattison should be thankful circumstances saved him from that mistake. As Isaidso pointed out the greatest lack is probably more cultural stuff to offer as an indoor option on rainy days. But Vancouver has never been a big city for culture and truth be told Canada is probably the least cultural of the western countries.

Granted, an all-year theme park would indeed be a bad idea... however, failing such a major tourist trap, we need something else. Things like Granville Island and the Museum of Vancouver are fine as locals, but I wouldn't proudly show them off to tourists who've been to Shibuya or Sentosa or the Louvre.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Granted, an all-year theme park would indeed be a bad idea... however, failing such a major tourist trap, we need something else. Things like Granville Island and the Museum of Vancouver are fine as locals, but I wouldn't proudly show them off to tourists who've been to Shibuya or Sentosa or the Louvre.

Our Aquarium is world class. Nobody is building a new zoo these days, and not in this Enviro-hippy part of the world.

Victoria is home to the Royal BC Museum, so we aren't getting another one of those either. We are one of the youngest cities on the planet. We'll never compete in a historical/culture sense. We've got mountains, skiing, hiking, camping.

I think a Great Wolf Lodge or similar would do well in Squamish, but what do I know.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Funny because none of the things you're complaining about were mentioned as limiting factors in the article.

The self-denial mentality of Vancouverites is also a limiting factor.

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Our Aquarium is world class. Nobody is building a new zoo these days, and not in this Enviro-hippy part of the world.

Victoria is home to the Royal BC Museum, so we aren't getting another one of those either. We are one of the youngest cities on the planet. We'll never compete in a historical/culture sense. We've got mountains, skiing, hiking, camping.

I think a Great Wolf Lodge or similar would do well in Squamish, but what do I know.

Self doubt, no-can-do attitude is another.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Yes, exactly. Vancouver has one of the biggest car2go fleets in the world. Lots of visitors might be members at home and this is great for them to get around. To suggest they travel here for the car2go availability is just as dumb as not coming due to Uber.

Car2go only exists in 26 cities, with Vancouver and Berlin having the largest fleets. In the other 24 cities, mostly western European, they are still quite young. Do you think thousands of tourists who happen to be from those 25 cities come to Vancouver as tourists?? We get the biggest numbers of visitors coming from the US and the most growth in tourism from Asia. Do you see them as Car2go members?

Uber can be used by everyone in the entire planet. Period. If visitors have to wait forever for taxis to bring them around, not to mention that it costs quite a bit more, word gets around that this is not an easy city to travel to various destinations. And please don't suggest them to take buses everywhere, as ours isn't really to par when compared to world class cities.

Like someone else said, it's not one thing that poops the party in Vancouver, but a combination of different things.

Time to wake up to reality.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Vin

The self-denial mentality of Vancouverites is also a limiting factor.

Self doubt, no-can-do attitude is another.

Self-denial? The complainers are the ones who think there are endless problems with Vancouver. I'm happy where I live. It's you who needs to get yourself a "can-do" attitude and move yourself somewhere you'd like more. Life is short.

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Our Aquarium is world class.

You're kidding, right?

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Jebby

You're kidding, right?

That's what I thought about your un-ending support for Trump.

[Jebby]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

That's what I thought about your un-ending support for Trump.

I don't think I've made a single comment on him in over a year on here, but nice red herring.

How is the Vancouver Aquarium remotely "world class"?

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Jebby

I don't think I've made a single comment on him in over a year on here, but nice red herring.

How is the Vancouver Aquarium remotely "world class"?

It's in your signature.

http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vanco...one-best-world

[Vin]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Self-denial? The complainers are the ones who think there are endless problems with Vancouver. I'm happy where I live. It's you who needs to get yourself a "can-do" attitude and move yourself somewhere you'd like more. Life is short.

Or stay here to fight for more and change the status quo. And yes, there are endless problems here in Vancouver: just go stroll along downtown Eastside.

[s211]

Originally Posted by isaidso

I loved my first trip to Vancouver but the glaring hole was the dearth of cultural assets: significant museums/galleries, opera, theatre, professional sports (MLB, NBA), major international festivals, etc. I know there's the Museum of Anthropology at UBC but there's not much beyond that.

No one thing alone will boost tourism to Vancouver but collectively they will make a difference.

Nailed it. Vancouver is a cultural wasteland, and deliberately so.

[GMD]

Interesting discussion but largely irrelevant to the initial study which mainly just said that there's not a lot of tourists/conference attendees in Vancouver because it is in the middle of nowhere geographically and much smaller in size than many of the comparison cities.

E.g. Yes, there are more non-stop flights from Manchester than Vancouver, but that's because there are 10x more destinations in range there vs. here. Yes Hong Kong gets more international visitors than Vancouver does - how on earth could you possibly expect anything else, etc. Nothing to do with Uber or petting zoos or people's pet causes they want to project onto this.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Our Aquarium is world class.

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

http://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vanco...one-best-world

Top 10 lists are subjective and often-contested as it is. One that was chosen by popular vote from a seemingly North American audience, even more so.

I mean I love the crap out of our Aquarium, but on a global scale, it's undeniably lacking. Let's get a shark tunnel or a five megalitre tank before we think about calling it "world class."

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Nobody is building a new zoo these days, and not in this Enviro-hippy part of the world.

Victoria is home to the Royal BC Museum, so we aren't getting another one of those either. We are one of the youngest cities on the planet. We'll never compete in a historical/culture sense. We've got mountains, skiing, hiking, camping.

True, and there's no space for a zoo even if we wanted one.

Not duplicating per se; the Royal BC is 1/3rd Museum of Victoria (which is useless to us) and 1/3rd First Nations galleries (which is already covered by our MoA).

Budget willing - think I've said this before, but whatever - we could do a dedicated Natural History Museum just fine. No reason why BC's fossils should all go to Ontario. Add some exhibits about evolution and BC's biodiversity, and it ties into the nature theme we're going for. Or an Art and Science Museum like Singapore's; they've done everything from a DreamWorks behind-the-scenes to a Titanic artifact display to a National Geographic photo gallery. Like the broom closet in Science World that gets seasonal galleries, but exhibit-sized.

We can also build more theatres, more art displays, more music and performance spaces. Come on, just because Vancouver's only had about a century and a half to develop our identity doesn't mean we just give up and go with "trees and volleyball."

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

I think a Great Wolf Lodge or similar would do well in Squamish, but what do I know.

Or Surrey. Either one should do fine.

Originally Posted by GMD

Interesting discussion but largely irrelevant to the initial study which mainly just said that there's not a lot of tourists/conference attendees in Vancouver because it is in the middle of nowhere geographically and much smaller in size than many of the comparison cities.

E.g. Yes, there are more non-stop flights from Manchester than Vancouver, but that's because there are 10x more destinations in range there vs. here. Yes Hong Kong gets more international visitors than Vancouver does - how on earth could you possibly expect anything else, etc. Nothing to do with Uber or petting zoos or people's pet causes they want to project onto this.

Fair enough, BUT we can still make sure that people like our city as a city.

That should be the Big Vision: come to Metro Vancouver, not just as a layover, not just for the outdoors around it, but because we've made it into a city worth spending time in.

[svlt]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

The sooner Vancouver’s self satisfied smugness is erased the better things will become.

Vancouver has a magnificent base but all the NIMBYism / wanting to remain a small town / over reliance on “the mountains” / ideology over practicality nonsense is restraining it from becoming so much more.

The view cones, Vision’s ham fisted reconciliation tactics, black and white views towards roads, no corporate signs above 450 feet, allowing protestors to destroy the Chinatown development plan, allowing a small citizen’s group prevent an observation tower at Queen Elizabeth Park for dubious reasons, etc... are all symptoms of these problems. Each one alone is not a make or break deal, but when they all pile on top of one and other...

This x 1000. I cannot believe the no-can-do culture that pervades throughout this so called "progressive" city.

[SpongeG]

Everyone laughs at the idea of a Ferris wheel but Vancouver with its views would be a prime candidate for one. One at Metrotown even would give incredible views.

The Melbourne star


The Seattle Ferris Wheel

[Vin]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Everyone laughs at the idea of a Ferris wheel but Vancouver with its views would be a prime candidate for one. One at Metrotown even would give incredible views.

The Melbourne star


The Seattle Ferris Wheel

Oh we have our no-can-doers here! Detractors of Ferris Wheel will definitely say that we have Grouse Mountain and Cypress Bowl, which are both way higher...... It always seems like the Mountains and trees can replace simply EVERYTHING that big cities have, and such is the mentality of many of the Vancouver locals.

[Vin]

Originally Posted by GMD

Interesting discussion but largely irrelevant to the initial study which mainly just said that there's not a lot of tourists/conference attendees in Vancouver because it is in the middle of nowhere geographically and much smaller in size than many of the comparison cities.

E.g. Yes, there are more non-stop flights from Manchester than Vancouver, but that's because there are 10x more destinations in range there vs. here. Yes Hong Kong gets more international visitors than Vancouver does - how on earth could you possibly expect anything else, etc. Nothing to do with Uber or petting zoos or people's pet causes they want to project onto this.

All we are saying is, if Vancouver has a very progressive urban set-up, combined with the natural beauty of this region, would be a real World Class tourist paradise. Not everyone wants to experience only the mountains and the trees, but a combination of the best of both worlds would definitely beckon more to come visit.

[whatnext]

Originally Posted by Vin

Oh we have our no-can-doers here! Detractors of Ferris Wheel will definitely say that we have Grouse Mountain and Cypress Bowl, which are both way higher...... It always seems like the Mountains and trees can replace simply EVERYTHING that big cities have, and such is the mentality of many of the Vancouver locals.

You just don't get Vancouver.

Perhaps you'd be happier in Shanghai, or Sao Paolo.