Vancouver's 2025 cruise season is expected to be smaller than last year's record 327 ship calls and 1.32 million passengers, but it is set to be a significant driver for the tourism sector.
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) this morning said it expects 300 ship calls and 1.2 million cruise passenger visits this year. Each cruise ship visit to Vancouver is estimated to generate an average of more than $3 million in direct spending in the local economy, according to the VFPA.
The cruise season started March 5, with the Disney Wonder, and is slated to end Oct. 21, but the overwhelming majority of ship calls take place between late April and late September.
Between 35,000 and almost 50,000 passengers are expected to pass through Vancouver's Canada Place terminal each Friday-through-Monday period between May 5 and Sept. 22, according to the VFPA.
One new development is that the City of Vancouver plans to make the road outside Canada Place one-way only, travelling westward from Howe Street. Motorists then exit on either Burrard or Thurlow streets. The change was made to improve pedestrian safety and manage traffic volume.
Executives at local tourist destinations have told BIV that the cruise season is key to business success.
"A couple days ago, we had 40 visitors from Germany who were on a cruise ship and specifically came to Chinatown and visited us on a private tour," Chinese Canadian Museum CEO Melissa Karmen Lee told BIV this morning.
She said that a Berlin-based gallery organized the visit and the participants arrived from the cruise ship on a bus. They were interested in the visit because the Chinese Canadian Museum is part of the International Council of Museums, is relatively new given that it launched in mid-2023, and won a Governor General's award last year.
Investors this week were listening to earnings calls from cruise lines.
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (NYSE:RCL) on Tuesday reported earnings that beat expectations, and it hiked its full-year guidance due to what CEO Jason Liberty called “excellent close-in demand.”
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH), in contrast, reported revenue and profit that were below expectations and described what it called softening demand.
The world's largest cruise line, ranked by passengers, is Carnival Corp. (NYSE:CCL), which is not expected to report its next quarterly earnings until late June.
