OVERTOURISM
The impacts of overtourism include overcrowding, noise and traffic congestion that reduce the quality of life for local residents. There are global and port community approaches for responsible tourism based on ‘do no harm’ to local residents.
Over the past 15 years, cruise tourism has altered the tourist-resident relationship in James Bay from positive interactions to negative impacts. Cruise ‘Excursion’ tourism has brought overtourism to our neighbourhood from April to October when up to 900,000 passengers come into port, overwhelming our neighbourhood of 13,000 residents.
Destination Greater Victoria’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan outlines an approach to re-establish tourism that includes positive visitor-resident interface. The Plan also focuses on the need for year-round tourism, as residents recognize the value of tourism and the need or desire for year-round growth. It also identifies that tourism can impact the costs of housing, may overload infrastructure, may divert resources/amenities from residents, and may contribute to damaging nature and the environment
OVERTOURISM Actions Needed
Harbour Operations
Maximum:
two ships in port at one time
three ships per day
7,000 cruise ship passengers per day
• Staggered arrivals and departures: only one ship arrival and departure per hour
• All ships must arrive after 7:30 am and depart by 10 pm
• No ships on Sunday and Monday
• Use lowest-sulphur fuels possible to reduce pollutants when entering port and maneuvering
Land Transportation Operations
• No highway buses for cruise passenger transportation through James Bay
• Tour/shuttle buses to/from Ogden Point transition to electric immediately
• ‘handyDART’ type buses for passengers who must use transit to downtown
• No taxi permits from Ogden Point until a speed management system is in place
“2020 was a blissful year without cruise ships in James Bay: it was peaceful and quiet, the air was clear and clean, there was no congestion or speeding on our streets, and James Bay felt like a neighbourhood again rather than someone else’s destination.”