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CHECK TV reporter Kendall Hanson presents some interesting questions about the lack of cruise ships the Port Authority seem to be able to attract to our $25 million cruise ship terminal.
The reasons for the fact Nanaimo is only hosting 2 ships this year offered by spokesman Doug Peterson don't seem to have had any effect on the 207 ships scheduled to tie up in Victoria this season. Last year Nanaimo's lack of attractions was given as the reason for the steadily declining numbers. Failed management and marketing strategies may be a more logical reason for the decline from the 13 ships we saw visit Nanaimo (before the terminal was built) to this years dismal showing.
Perhaps Nanaimo has been guilty of spending large sums of money on what sound like good ideas which were never supported by a credible business plan. Both the conference centre and the cruise ship terminal were built with public money and administered by levels of government, who, unlike private business have very little to risk. Is there accountability on the part of those administering these ventures?
Neither the cruise ship terminal nor the conference centre have come even close to fulfilling the advertised performance when these major expenditures of public funds were embarked upon.
Why one would think professional bureaucrats make good business people has always been a bit of a mystery to this humble scribe. The record in Nanaimo has done nothing to convince that bureaucrats have the dna to enter and succeed in the world of business.
Given the boost the local economy experiences as witnessed by the visit of the Grand Princess you would like to think that capable management would be able to produce the 30 ships per year as promised by Port Authority head Mr. Dumas.
How about moving the float planes out of the current location to the Cruiseship terminal? They stink up the seawall not to mention the noise pollution.
ReplyDeleteMr.Peterson needs to find a new fiction writer for his quotes - they are repetitive, tiresome and most of all smoke-and-mirrors.
ReplyDeleteInstead of moaning the industry is in a downturn he needs to look at both Vancouver and Victoria being on the upswing.
He makes no sense. But then again, he's a bureaucrat promoting foolish spending of taxpayer monies.
I'd like to comment from a tourist's point of view (I'm from Austria btw). I stayed twice in Nanaimo with my wife, and we really enjoyed it here. But if I had only a few hours to spend, I would choose Victoria. Simply because it has better sightseeing attractions and more interesting shops to offer for very short term visitors. For us, Nanaimo is more about outdoor activities (like a hike on Newcastle Island, having dinner at the Dingy Dock Pub, touring the Horne Lake Caves, etc.). We're really looking forward for next year, when we will visit Nanaimo and Vancouver Island again.
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