3471 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

...this area will likely be part of the new Innovation District...

Lest it suffers the fate of its predecessor.

[Barrrister]

I usually direct tourists to take a stroll down Pandora. 

[Mike K.]

Was the quiet phase-put of the district by-design?

[Victoria Watcher]

B.C. welcomed 595,795 foreign overnight visitors in June, according to new Destination British Columbia number crunching of Statistics Canada data.

 

That is down 28.5 per cent from the same month in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic virtually ground international travel to a halt.

 

That decline in relation to months in 2019 has been holding steady. 

 

In May, the province's 439,677 foreign overnight visitor count was down 28.6 per cent from the same month in 2019. May's total was up 54.1 per cent from May 2022, while in June, the increase over last June was a comparatively low 48.8 per cent. 

 

Normalized travel by Mexicans was one reason for the softer June visitor data. 

 

 

https://www.timescol...in-june-7467323

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 August 2023 - 05:03 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

About 600,000 people visit Goldstream Park every year, especially during the summer and fall salmon-spawning months.

 

 

https://www.timescol...nations-8423211

 

 

 

 

If that figure is accurate, how does that place it as an attraction in Victoria?

[Tony]

Sounds way too high but may be possible with campsite, school groups, hikers etc. included.

 

In the fall of 2023 in about 9 weeks the visitor center ambassadors had contact with 40,580 visitors. 20,000 a month in their busy time.

 

No indication of how that number of about 600 000 was created.

[Mike K.]

Every day there are many hundreds who visit the park to hike the trails. In the summer I’m sure it’s into the thousands. It’s hugely popular. Every time I drive by the parking lots are full, so I believe that figure.

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria tourism hope for deal as border employee strike looms ahead of summer

 

Canadian Border Services Agency employees could strike as early as June

https://www.vicnews....-summer-7365801

[aastra]

"Walking with Bruce" youtube channel...

 

He's a local but it's funny how often he says he's never been to a spot. That's such a Victorian thing. He had never been down on Gonzales Beach, he had never been up Cairn Park in Esquimalt, he had never been on the Westbay walkway. When I was a young pup I used to scorn people for their reluctance to explore their own city, but now that I'm an old fart I really envy any adult who discovers something like Gonzales Beach for the first time. It must be amazing. You'd have to wonder what other great things might be out there. Heck, I'm impressed when I discover a simple trail or a shortcut that I didn't know about, or when I realize I'm walking down a block that I'm not familiar with.

 

Anyway, I like his videos.

[AllseeingEye]

^ I don't think that's all that unusual. I have friends in Cancun who've never set foot at Chitzen Itza, a globally recognized historic site barely two hours away by car, and extended family in Swindon who have never been to Stonehenge which is all of thirty-five miles from their back yard. I've never been to miniature world or butterfly gardens or taken the Brentwood ferry. For that matter I never went to the old Fable Cottage nor Sealand when it was in Oak Bay.

[aastra]

Dude, you gotta go to Miniature World. Stat.

 

I can still remember the musty smell in the lower part of Sealand where the big fish tanks were.

[aastra]

I've never been to the haunted mini-golf place downtown. Mike K. keeps promising a group outing, and yet here we are.

 

I don't know if I've ever been to Mill Hill. I don't think so.

Edited by aastra, 24 June 2024 - 10:56 AM.

[aastra]

And if there's still anyone here who has never gone for a stroll at Government House, get your rear out of that chair right now. Soooo many Victorians don't even know where Government House is.

Ditto for the various lookout spots: Gonzales Hill, Moss Rock, Anderson Hill, Peacock Hill, Summit Park...

 

I know it's been a very long time since I was up Christmas Hill. That's something I need to do this summer. It was on my schedule last year but it never happened.

[aastra]

I'm not sure I've ever seen Danbrook One with my living eyes. But I have gone for a swim at the Y in Langford.

 

I also don't know if I've ever seen the Brentwood Bay resort.

Edited by aastra, 24 June 2024 - 11:03 AM.

[Nparker]

...I know it's been a very long time since I was up Christmas Hill. That's something I need to do this summer...

I thought it was only open to visitors in December.

[aastra]

^The opposite. Security is tight in December and public access is limited. It's much more casual during the off season.

 

Until this year I'm pretty sure I hadn't been all the way through Uplands Park in decades. I'm not exactly sure the last time I went deep into that park. I've skirted around it a few times and stopped at it but without actually really going through it. To go all the way through it again was like reviving a lost memory or something. It's quintessential Garry Oak wonderland.

[Nparker]

...Until this year I'm pretty sure I hadn't been all the way through Uplands Park in decades. I'm not exactly sure the last time I went deep into that park. I've skirted around it a few times and stopped at it but without actually really going through it

I understand the SOGI tour of the Uplands is more popular than ever these days, with costs entirely underwritten by the Ministry of Education.

[aastra]

I should have clarified, like most nature enthusiasts I tend to hike au naturel.

[aastra]

^And before anybody gives me grief about this I'll offer my emphatic reassurance that I'm very careful to wear a hat and sunscreen.

[lanforod]

You really should be wearing two hats.