More than 3,800 groups of people stopped by the Parksville Visitor Centre in 2024, according to the Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce.
“While this is a decrease from 2023, industry trends suggest that domestic travel is increasing due to international tensions," said Meghan Walker, board president, during a presentation to Parksville city council on March 17. "We anticipate a positive shift in visitor numbers for 2025."
The visitor centre reduced its hours to 24 per week after council declined the chamber's request for an additional $40,000 in annual funding in November.
“Research does show that the majority of visitors on Vancouver Island travel by private vehicle, meaning they pass through Parksville often,” Walker said. “We are refining our operating hours and services and we aim to increase engagement by providing greater value to those travellers that pass through our town.”
The Summer by the Sea Market has been a success, Walker said, and added it allowed chamber members to connect with hundreds of people at its booth each week.
The chamber hopes to increase the visitor centre hours by bolstering its volunteer roster, especially during the peak summer season, Walker added.
“During that busy season our team will be supplemented hopefully by summer students hired through the Canada summer jobs program," she said.
In February, Parksville council voted to renew the city's fee for service agreement with the chamber, which operates the visitor centre.
The agreement included a slight increase in the fee for service, of 2.4 per cent, to $57,713, based on the BC Consumer Price Index change between October 2023 and October 2024, according to a report by Amanda Weeks, the city's manager of administrative services.
Starting May 16 and ending Sept. 4, the centre will be open five days a week for at least four hours a day and including at least one weekend shift. The visitor centre will shift back to three days a week again starting Sept. 5.
