Tourism Vancouver hoping Canucks can pull through series
Posted April 20, 2012 7:39 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – With the Canucks having clawed their way back into their playoff series, the folks at Tourism Vancouver are hoping the team plays right through to June.
The industry group says the longer the team is in the mix, the bigger the boost for the city’s bottom-line.
Aside from the visiting team and their entourage, Walt Judas with Tourism Vancouver says the biggest payoff is from fans who come in from Washington State, the Okanagan and Vancouver Island.
“Certainly those fans need to stay in hotels, eat in our restaurants, and take transportation. They buy retail and go to attractions,” he notes. “There are other things for them to see and do in the city during the playoff period.”
He explains they took a bit of a hit following last year’s riot, but feels a long playoff run would help the city’s image. “For the most part, when you have sporting events in the city, people get to experience the atmosphere; you see a lot of the images on television, media talk and write about the city… it does help us from an awareness-perspective.”
Judas adds it would also prove we can host a world-class event. “We’d love to see this team do what they did last year and go very deep into the playoffs with the ending that we all are looking for.”
