3426 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

No (life) jacket required.

 

Not to be worn at all times, but the boat has them.  You get a 30-minute safety lesson.

[lanforod]

This one of your business ideas VHF?

[Bingo]

Hippo Tours seems to have closed again.

 

 

They just don't make zoo attractions like they used to.

[Nparker]

They just don't make zoo attractions like they used to.

Perhaps the hippos formed a union to escape the harsh conditions of their overlords.

[VicHockeyFan]

To be successful, the tourism industry requires social licence from our community. We need the public on our side and, in fact, a key goal of our work is to create tangible benefits for our community. This includes helping pay for infrastructure, such as the David Foster Pathway, and doing our part to cover the costs of services such as garbage collection through commercial property taxes.

 

The grey economy is a serious concern, as it undercuts legitimate industry and results in an unfair playing field and can do real damage to our community.

 

Housing is a vitally important issue in Greater Victoria. There is a shortage of available, affordable homes for students and workers due in large part to housing stock being used for short-term vacation rentals.

 

With vacancy rates at 0.5 per cent in Victoria, the city is facing a very real rental-housing crisis. This affects people of any age in every industry.

 

This is not simply a hotel problem. One of the most pressing issues is the disruption in the quality of life being reported by people living next to unregulated short-term vacation rentals, particularly in strata buildings. In fact, affected homeowners have been the most vocal in calling for regulations that limit where short-term vacation rentals are permitted.

 

 

Paul Nursey in today's TC

 

First of all, paying directly for the David Foster Way is not how Tourism Victoria should spend its money.  But that's part of a deal - a money shell game - to get $1M more from taxes each year.

 

And it's also not TVs mandate to advocate for the homeowners or residents of strata buildings.  Affected homeowners can do that work themselves, they have a strata council to work within.

 

Hotels and motels pay taxes, fees and above-the-table wages, as well as operating in compliance with WorkSafe B.C. All we are asking is that short-term vacation rentals operate on a level playing field.

 

 

As a point of clarity, the tourism industry is not asking for a prohibition on short-term vacation rentals in situations where you are supplementing the mortgage on your primary residence.

 

 

No you are not!  You are supporting the City in downzoning all condominiums, effectively leaving only houses and hotels suitable for short-term occupancy.  Coincidence right?  Lisa Helps will be fine with her two Air BnBs, but the guy owning in the Janion is cut off. 

Edited by VicHockeyFan, 16 July 2017 - 07:49 AM.

[Bingo]

More than 20 per cent of property owners responding to a recent survey in Vancouver cited rental restrictions imposed by strata councils as the reason why their condominium units were sitting vacant, Isitt noted.

http://www.timescolo...tals-1.21179702

 

 

Folks that are renting an apartment are not allowed to sub-let their unit, so why look to condo owner to fill up the housing shortage, when what needs to happen is to build more rental apartment blocks.

[Nparker]

Comrade Isitt's statistics seem pretty dubious to me. I doubt very much that 20 percent of the vacant condos in Vancouver have rental restrictions. Air BnB restrictions perhaps, but not long-term rentals.

[Nparker]

...Affected homeowners can do that work themselves, they have a strata council to work within...

Not if the SJWs continue direct their efforts towards stripping strata owners of their property rights. 

Edited by Nparker, 16 July 2017 - 08:09 AM.

[rjag]

Nursey has become the mouthpiece for the Hotel association it seems. I thought his job as CEO of Tourism Victoria was to promote Tourism. Losing hundreds of rooms to social housing has created a vacuum where folks dont want to stay in a hotel paying $10 for a glass of OJ. This is the hotel association lobbying for market share

[sebberry]

Not to be worn at all times, but the boat has them.  You get a 30-minute safety lesson.

 

The safety lesson is longer than the BBQ lunch itself.

[DavidL]

80% roughly of Tourism Victoria's funding come directly from hotels.  Their position comes as no surprise.  The worst part of this argument is that suites in homes outside properly zoned areas would potentially provide more "affordable" rentals whereas it's quite clear that higher end condos downtown, if prevented from being STVRs, would do little for "affordability".  So the affordability argument is self defeating.

 

The city is unwilling to enforce it's current land use bylaws, so once this is all rammed through and a new regulatory regime established, what makes anyone think they'll enforce the new rules?  Start with the existing rules and enforce the existing zoning bylaws.  But of course this would make sense and would produce no headlines or media attention for those driving this process.  It would simply be the city taking care of routine city business, which it seems they're not all that interested in doing.

[Nparker]

...The city is unwilling to enforce it's current land use bylaws...

With the exception of the "dogs on stoops" bylaw of course.

[aastra]

We did the harbour kayaking thing again the other day. Every time I do it I appreciate it more. Methinks it really is a severely underrated attraction.

[Mattjvd]

We did the harbour kayaking thing again the other day. Every time I do it I appreciate it more. Methinks it really is a severely underrated attraction.

Thanks for the comment, I've been meaning to try it! I take it you'd reccomend it highly?

[sdwright.vic]

So the Ducks are still here in Victoria stored in a warehouse in Esquimalt.

[North Shore]

Thanks for the comment, I've been meaning to try it! I take it you'd reccomend it highly?

 

I certainly would!  You can go up the Gorge for (somewhat) peace and quiet, or down into the harbour for action.  Nothing cooler than pulling up in your kayak for lunch at Barb's Fish 'n Chips!

Edited by North Shore, 22 July 2017 - 02:09 PM.

[Mike K.]

"Another great town to visit is Victoria, a quiet and adorable town packed full of things to do! The town offers horse-drawn carriage rides for sightseeing and great fish ‘n chips shops if that’s up your alley. For ambitious people, there’s orca whale watching in either a Zodiac or in a larger boat, though you can’t get within 200 feet of the pods for safety reasons. You can also visit the British Columbia Parliament Buildings, which spectacularly lights up at night, and take a tour."

 

Where do they come up with this quiet and adorable nonsense? Good grief. 

 

http://www.dailycal....columbia-least/

[aastra]

 

Where do they come up with this quiet and adorable nonsense? Good grief.

 

Probably the same place where they got the idea that Vancouver was chock-full of skyscrapers.

[Mike K.]

Do we even have a fish 'n chip shop anywhere in the downtown core? I mean a real fish 'n chip shop and not Red Fish Blue Fish, which one wouldn't dare refer as such?

[aastra]

That and Fisherman's Wharf. 98.6% of the tourists would never get anywhere near the other shops around town.