Deal with VIA, opening of Prince Rupert cruise ship facility expands tourism opportunities
A new partnership between Whistler Rail Tours and VIA Rail, and the opening of a new cruise ship terminal in Prince Rupert hold promise for the future of tourism throughout B.C.
Whistler Rail Tours recently signed a memorandum of understanding with VIA Rail to operate a luxury passenger rail service along the BC Rail tracks. The Vancouver-Whistler run will be the first route offered by the partners, but VIA wants to expand the rail service to Prince George, to connect with its Jasper-Prince Rupert Skeena train as early as next spring.
That would coincide with the opening of a new $9 million cruise ship facility in Prince Rupert next spring.
"This essentially completes the loop," said Jennifer Beresford, director of business development for Whistler Rail Tours.
"This directly plays to the province’s tourism initiative and to the province’s heartland strategy."
Last week VIA hosted Whistler Rail Tours and tourism and local government officials on its Skeena train. Among the guests was Mike Duggan, chair of Tourism BC and general manager of the Pan Pacific Lodge Whistler.
"There’s a phenomenal opportunity with the new cruise ship facility in Prince Rupert," Duggan said.
Cruise ship passengers will be able to enter the province from Prince Rupert or Vancouver and travel through the Interior of the province by train, before or after their voyage to Alaska.
"It’s a great opportunity for tour packages," Duggan said.
"There’s huge support for Whistler Rail Tours in the north," Beresford added. "This is very, very positive for Whistler Rail Tours."
Whistler Rail Tours has been in the local news for the last 18 months or so in connection with the Nita Lake Lodge development, which will include a train station at Whistler Creek. John Haibeck is the president of the Nita Lake Lodge Corp. and CEO of Whistler Rail Tours.
Luxury rail excursions for cruise ship passengers have been offered in Alaska for years. CruiseShipCenters International, a Lower Mainland firm that markets and sells cruise ship vacations, partnered with Whistler Rail Tours to develop a rail excursion from Vancouver to Whistler. With VIA now part of the package and the Prince Rupert facility opening next year, the opportunity to extend the train service to the north of the province has opened up.
"In our view it is important to offer a ‘loop service’ between Vancouver and Prince Rupert," a statement from Whistler Rail Tours and CruiseShipCenters states. "Passengers can then be offered many alternative excursions involving combinations of cruise ship and luxury tourist train service without the need to return to their destination along the same route."
More than 700,000 cruise ship passengers are expected to visit Alaska this season. CruiseShipCenters has direct marketing access to approximately 450,000 of the passengers who come through Vancouver.
At present, only 8 per cent of cruise ship passengers stay more than one night in B.C., Duggan said. With the Prince Rupert terminal and train excursions offered from Prince Rupert and Vancouver, there is an opportunity to increase that number.
"We’ve been challenged to double the tourism industry by 2010," Duggan said. "There are two ways you can do that: you can get more money from your existing visitors or you can increase the number of people visiting."
Beresford said there would be an opportunity to sell Whistler excursions and showcase Whistler businesses on the train.
Whistler Rail Tours has ordered new railcars from manufacturer Colorado Rail Cars to service the route, but the cars won’t be ready until 2005. However, VIA is interested in starting the service with its own equipment next spring.
One of the factors motivating VIA is connecting new customers to its Skeena train, which lost a source of passengers when BC Rail ceased its passenger service last fall.
VIA recently increased the Skeena service from three times a week to four times a week. The Skeena train is a two-day run between Jasper and Prince Rupert, with an overnight stop in Prince George. The Skeena runs year round, although luxury class excursions are not offered in the winter.
While the Alaska cruise ship business does not operate in the winter, Whistler Rail Tours is working with tour operators to build shoulder season and ski season business on the Vancouver-Whistler run, and VIA is interested in year-round connections to the Skeena line.
Last week the Prince Rupert Port Authority confirmed commitments for 36 large cruise ship visits in the 2004 season. More than 60,000 passengers and 20,000 crew from three cruise ship lines are expected to dock at the new Northland Cruise Ship Dock that is currently under construction.
"We are very pleased at the level of interest in Prince Rupert as a new component to the Alaska cruise program," Prince Rupert Port Authority President and CEO Don Krusel said in a release. "Clearly, the potential of Prince Rupert has been demonstrated to the cruise industry and we are on track to become a significant player within the cruise industry on the west coast."
For next summer, Norwegian Cruise Lines has committed to 18 port calls with the 2,000 passenger Norwegian Sky. Celebrity Cruises has committed to 13 port calls with the 2,000 passenger Mercury. A newcomer to the Alaska cruise business, Silversea Cruises, has committed to five port calls with a 400 passenger ship.
The $9 million Northland Cruise Ship Dock is a co-operative effort of the Prince Rupert Port Authority, the City of Prince Rupert, the Government of Canada and the provincial government.
