The Bowen Island Visitor Centre torch has officially been passed from the Bowen Island Arts Council (BIAC) to Tourism Bowen Island (TBI) – and the centre may have more money to open longer in 2016.
Jacqueline Massey of BIAC presented the Visitor Centre’s annual report to Bowen Island municipal council Monday (Dec. 14).
BIAC took over operation of the Visitor Centre, located in the Boulevard Cottage on Cardena Road in Snug Cove, in 2012 from the Chamber of Commerce. This past year, BIAC worked in partnership with TBI to identify visitor needs.
Massey told council that in 2015, more than 6,300 visitors came through the Visitor Centre while it was open daily between Victoria Day weekend and the Labour Day weekend – an increase of 9 per cent over 2014 numbers – while another 300 people came to the Centre during weekends in September. That compares to a 30 per cent drop in visitor info centre numbers for the Vancouver Coast Mountain area, though Massey noted that overall tourism numbers remain strong in BC and Canada.
The Centre is funded primarily by a $12,000 grant from the municipality, supplemented by sales of arts products with the Caring Circle co-located at the centre, with most of the expenses going to staffing. Support from TBI kept the centre open weekends in September.
Massey said the BIAC was thankful for the opportunity to run the centre for the past four years, but “we think it makes sense” that TBI was taking it over.
“We look forward to continuing to build cultural tourism on Bowen Island through our own activities.”
Murray Atherton of TBI told council the organization is ready and willing to take over.
TBI became a registered non-profit society in 2014. It now has more than $14,000 in the bank, and will work with Destination BC on tourism marketing efforts for which it received matching dollars of $7500 last year and this year.
It has taken over marketing Bowen Island as well, working with Destination BC and Park Royal using the new tourismbowenisland.com website to submit information on Bowen Island events to other tourism sites and working to establish a greater social media presence for local tourism.
The organization accepts individual as well as business membership, Atherton noted.
Atherton noted the September visitor centre opening cost TBI $800 to run this year. He asked to increase the municipal grant to $15,000 next year to allow TBI to extend operation to daily in September next year, noting that that month is now Vancouver’s busiest month in hotel occupancy.).
Council voted unanimously to turn management of the visitor centre over to TBI in 2016 and also voted unanimously to include the $15,000 grant figure in its 2016 budget process.
