According to statistics collected by the Bowen Island Visitors Centre, Bowen Island has welcomed more visitors this year than last - but only since the weather has improved.
Until the week of June 26th, fewer visitors came off the ferry each respective week in comparison to 2015. Numbers have shot up since. Last week, described by Jody Lorenz as “crazy,” Bowen Island welcomed 430 more visitors than in 2015.
Owners of accommodations businesses are also reporting a high level of booking since June.
Duncan Phillips, owner of the Studio at Snug Cove House, says that he has had just one night free in his rental unit all summer.
“I think our annual record for the number of nights booked is 195,” says Phillips. “I think it we are likely to surpass that this year.”
Rondy Dyke, owner of the Union Steamship Marina says that they have seen two percent fewer boats booked in for all-night moorage this summer.
“That said, we are just starting to see the boats from the US come in.”
Dyke says that as far as business at Doc Morgan’s go, “things are back to normal.”
Paul Rickett at the Bowen Island Beer and Wine Store says that while it is hard to consistently determine who is a tourist and who is not, he has definitely noticed that business has improved along with the weather.
“The amount of people and quantity that they buy definitely changes as the weather improves,” says Rickett. “People do come up here and tell me that it is absolutely nuts in the lower Cove.”
