Pride brings big boost to local economy
Posted August 1, 2015 7:33 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The rainbow flag is filled with red, white and blue this weekend. US tourists are especially feeling the Pride this weekend, with a weak Canadian dollar driving them north.
Angus Praught with Tourism Vancouver says visitors are not here just for tomorrow’s Parade. “LGBT people come here for the same reasons as everybody else does. The fabulous scenery, the mountains, great shopping and beaches etc. but they also come here because we have a world class event and it’s one of the largest in the world and it’s also in a great setting.”
“They want to comes here and stay in nice hotels, they want to go shopping, they want to eat in good restaurants, they want to take in the tourist sites like everybody else does and then go into our gay neighbourhood and end at the nightclubs etc. so it’s a money maker,” he adds.
Its estimated Pride Week brings in close to $22 million to the local economy, with most of that coming from food, drink and shopping.
