Vancouver tourism numbers take off but wages still grounded, union says
The tourism industry in Vancouver had a record year in 2016 with the city welcoming over 10 million overnight visitors, according to a report from Tourism Vancouver.
The marketing and business association said the number was a 7.2 per cent increase from 2015 and the highest overnight visitation rate in the city's history.
It found the majority of visitors into the region were from elsewhere in Canada (around 5.6 million), followed by visitors from the United States (around 2.3 million) and Asia (around 1.1 million).
Morgan Westcott, a faculty member in Tourism Management with both BCIT and Royal Roads University, said the higher numbers could be due to a few different factors including low gas prices, the low Canadian dollar, increased flights at YVR and visa access.
"For the visa access, for instance, when Harper brought in visa restrictions for Mexico in 2009, we started to see a dip, everyone started to panic a little. Trudeau lifted those last year and all this pent-up demand started to release and we saw more visitation there," she explained.
Raise hospitality workers' wages, union says
The booming tourism industry has also inspired calls from the union representing hospitality workers to raise employee wages.
Robert Demand, the president for Unite Here Local 40, said employees are struggling to make ends meet with the high cost of living in Vancouver.
"At the airport, when we look at the very first people who are greeting visitors into Vancouver — those are minimum wage jobs."
Demand said many hospitality workers at mid-range hotels earn between $16 to 17 per hour and around $22 an hour at higher end hotels.
He added the hours are often long and the work demanding, especially after the industry slashed jobs during the 2008/2009 recession.
"People are proud of the role they play in this industry ... but they don't feel like they're really able to take their place at the table."
With files from The Early Edition
To listen to the interviews, click on the link labelled Union says Vancouver hospitality workers deserve a raise after another record tourism year
