Victoria business owners optimistic about downtown safety as tourism season restarts
CTV
On April 6, Victoria will welcome its first cruise ship visit in three years, and with it comes optimism.
"Cruise ships are a very important component of our visitor economy of downtown," said Jeff Bray, executive director of the Downtown Victoria Business Association.
Currently, there are 358 ships scheduled to visit over the span of the season. Bray predicts that equates to about 800,000 to 900,000 people.
With the influx of tourists on the horizon, some are asking, does Victoria have its game face on?
"Certainly there were periods of time over the last two years in terms of the street disorder, break and enters, all the camping that was happening in parks," said Bray. "It was a pretty tough time."
Bray, who has been vocal about all of those examples in the past, believes Victoria is in a much better place now.
"I would say we are very much on an upward trajectory," said Bray. "There is far less of that activity."
The Mayor of Victoria, Lisa Helps, agrees.
"We’re definitely doing better than we were 17 months ago in the middle of a pandemic," she said Wednesday.
