Destination Greater Victoria to launch survey that will aid in 10-year planning process

A new survey will launch in early November that will allow the public to weigh in on the 10-year sustainable tourism master planning process.

The survey will provide insight on what tools and infrastructure are needed to continue to grow Victoria’s tourism sector, said Destination Greater Victoria CEO Paul Nursey.

“The visitor economy not only employees two-in-five Victorians, or supports two-in-five Victoria families – so there is a direct economic impact – but it provides a lot of other amenities that would not otherwise be here, whether that be attractions, galleries, museums or restaurants,” Nursey said. “We need to make sure that we understand what tools and infrastructure are needed so that we are competitive and moving forward and not sliding backward because like many industries, the visitor economy is highly competitive.”

Maintaining a year-round tourism sector is a top concern because of the economic impact the industry has on Victoria businesses. Additionally, due to the money needed to increase sustainability in infrastructure and business, it is important to end seasonality in the tourism market to help maintain and increase revenue that will allow businesses to invest in things like green energy and carbon-neutral alternatives.

The survey will be structured and analyzed and the goal of Destination Greater Victoria is to gather as much data from the public as possible so as to have a good sample size. This will help them to understand how many hotel rooms are needed, which types of transportation should be improved and what other aspects will boost Victoria’s visitor economy.

Improving aspects of Victoria that could contribute to its competitiveness in the tourism market requires that we prove that the city is a viable commercial option for industries such as aviation. However, that requires revenue from things like conferences and sporting events. Understanding what is necessary to increase Victoria’s access to these options is one of the key focuses of the survey.

“While we’ve done a lot of plans like this in the past, the last one being in 2013, we did a major planning process around transportation to the region, but we haven’t undertaken a holistic master planning process ever and I think it is a really important and responsible step forward,” Nursey said.

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