The ultimate cruise ship of the 2024 season the Norwegian Jewel, will depart from Canada Place on Tuesday, marking the top of a document 1.32-million passenger season for the Canadian Port.
Vancouver’s season ran from March 11 via October 29, with 327 calls and a 7 p.c improve in visitor quantity.
“We need to thank everybody who helped 2024 be such a profitable cruise season in Vancouver—to have back-to-back document years run so easily is a big accomplishment and testomony to the dedication of these concerned,” stated Shri Madiwal, vp of operations and provide chain on the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the federal company that permits rising commerce via the Port of Vancouver, together with cruise, whereas defending the setting.
“I need to thank our companions—together with SSA Marine, the Worldwide Longshore and Warehouse Union, the Canadian and U.S. border businesses, the Metropolis of Vancouver, and cruise strains—for serving to ship one other profitable cruise season. Canada Place cruise operations play an important position in Vancouver’s thriving tourism sector—injecting over a billion {dollars} into the native financial system yearly, and supporting companies and jobs all through the area.”
Based on an announcement, Financial Impression Research launched by the port authority earlier this 12 months discovered passengers, crew and cruise strains spend greater than $1.1 billion regionally every year, together with passengers spending a median of $450 every on resorts, eating places, buying, excursions and native points of interest, and extra.
“The Port of Vancouver has been an unimaginable accomplice for a few years, and we thank them for his or her continued assist,” added David J. Herrera, president of Norwegian Cruise Line. “Norwegian Jewel’s Alaska voyages to and from Vancouver supplied our company a beautiful alternative to plan pre- and post-cruise stays on this lovely metropolis, permitting them to actually immerse themselves within the vacation spot and plan an prolonged trip. We sit up for our future sailings to and from Vancouver all through 2025 and 2026, serving to assist the native companies whereas additionally offering our company with an unforgettable trip expertise to Alaska.”
The busy 2024 cruise season noticed Canada Place have six of its top-10 busiest days ever for passengers, together with its second busiest ever on April 29 when virtually 20,000 passengers handed via the terminal.
“As one other record-breaking cruise season wraps up for the 12 months, the contributions of our practically 200 Vacation spot Vancouver volunteers stand out for example of how town comes collectively to assist the cruise business,” famous Royce Chwin, President and CEO of Vacation spot Vancouver. “With greater than 330,000 customer interactions this season—14% greater than final 12 months and practically double what we noticed in 2022—among the many largest teams of holiday makers we work with are cruise passengers. Our volunteers are readily available at Canada Place on each crusing day to supply native insights and encourage passengers to discover neighborhoods, eating, and points of interest, turning transient stopovers into richer experiences. This elevated engagement instantly advantages the native financial system, making tourism a good stronger driver of constructive progress for our metropolis.”
The port authority continues to collaborate with vacation spot, authorities and cruise line companions to put money into the Canada Place terminal to boost capability, sustainability and passenger expertise on the Port of Vancouver. This 12 months, that included partnering with U.S. Customs and Border Safety to launch Canada’s first ever facial biometric scanning for cruise.
The brand new facial scanning know-how has diminished the time it takes to go via U.S. border management by as much as 94%, with common transaction instances dropping from 2-3 minutes with the passport kiosks beforehand used to about 10 seconds with the biometrics—considerably bettering the terminal’s capacity to seamlessly deal with excessive numbers of cruise passengers and enhancing general passenger expertise.
“We’re thrilled to proceed our priceless work with business and authorities enhancing capability and passenger expertise on the Canada Place cruise terminal, whereas additional embedding sustainability into Vancouver’s booming cruise sector,” stated Madiwal.