With our cruise season about to launch for another year, there was a timely article in the Vancouver Province last week outlining the changing face of tourism in Prince Rupert. From the B. C. Getaways section of Tuesday May the 9th, came the screaming headline of “MIRACLE ON THE SKEENA, North Coast: Rupert reborn as cruise-ship port and eco-tourism hub.”What followed were two pages of glowing reviews of all things Podunk. A trip to the Cannery Museum, some jet boat fun on the Exchamsiks looking for wildlife, a visit to the Museum of Northern B. C. to name a few. The author Elaine Young, painted a rather vivid picture of Rupert as a tourist destination.
While you sense she took a few liberties with the article, which reads like she just arrived on one of our huge floating hotels and did the scene. Of course, we might have noticed her arrival since the Cruise ships don’t exactly slip in without attention. But for the purposes of the article and the much needed boost to tourism will play along.
At any rate, it’s the kind of publicity that the folks at the Visitors bureaus can only dream of, everything was nice, the weather worked in the authors favour and the locals did themselves proud.
The article explains the potential for growth in the cruise sector and highlights the importance it brings to a local economy that has been battered over the last five years or so.
You can check out all the glad tidings of joy below.
CRUISE SHIPS HELP KEEP PRINCE RUPERT AFLOAT
North Coast: Visitors are awed by the rugged wilderness, just on the edge of town.
By Elaine Young
Special to the Province
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
B. C. Getaways section
Pages C2-C3
“You’re going on a cruise to WHERE?” Yeah, that’s right. I’m going to Prince Rupert.
Admittedly, the rainy north coast of B. C., can be a hard sell to Lower Mainlanders hoping to bask on the beaches of the Caribbean, but I can’t help feeling a little smug as I roar down the pristine green waters of the Exchamsiks River on a jet boat. A bald eagle sits perched on a tree at the river’s edge and we are surrounded by rugged mountain peaks dotted with crimson hues.
This is the real wilderness.
The Exchamsiks River Provincial Park is about 85 kilometres east of Prince Rupert, right where the glacier-fed river joins the wife, meandering Skeena. The Park protects one of the only stands of old-growth Sitka spruce in an area that was, ironically, once known for its booming forestry industry. But times changed and the economy turned.
The Skeena pulp mill shut down and other resource-based industries were caught in the depression, too, sending Prince Rupert on a downward spiral.
However, times are changing yet again, this time for the better. The behemoth that brought me to this remote island city of 14,000 is also bringing thousands of other tourists and their much-needed dollars.
Prince Rupert’s $9 million cruise-ship terminal was finished less than 24 months ago. In 2005, 73 ships paid a visit, gently depositing more than 100,000 visitors at the city’s doorstep, 50 per cent more than the previous season.
And this year, though tourism officials expect the same number of stops, a couple of new cruise lines have added Prince Rupert to the itinerary.
During the next decade, the cruise industry is expected to bring more than $30 million into the city and create more than a thousand jobs.
Already, there are signs of optimism: 20 more businesses have joined Tourism Prince Rupert in the past couple of years.
“It’s been good for everyone, not just those people employed in tourism,” says Jillian Greenwood, the marketing director.
George Clark and his travel agency are a good example. He organized my afternoon excursion to the Exchamsiks and he’s doing double duty as a tour guide.
After more than 20 years in northwest B. C. servicing the travel needs of the shrinking local population, Clark realized he needed to diversify. He started planning day tours specifically for cruise-ship passengers.
I’ve pumped $400,000 into the local economy this season. Look a today’s trip, I’ve hired five local people to help out.”
Two of them are the owners of Silvertip Eco Tours. I’m in the jet boat Greg Knox is piloting and as we zoom up the Exchamsiks, he explains the flora and fauna around us.
“We have quite a variety of different wildlife here. Grizzly bears, black bears, moose, wolverines, a bunch of smaller critters. Most of them are difficult to see because the brush is so thick.” It’s part scenic cruise, part biology lesson.
By some stroke of luck, the torrential downpour has stopped and the heavy grey clouds have lifted. Rays of sunshine break through the patches of blue sky, bathing the pristine river valley in a warm glow. Don’t underestimate what a miracle this is – although the locals will tell you it really doesn’t rain all that much, according to Environment Canada, Prince Rupert is one of the rainiest places in Canada.
I got a taste of that earlier in the day while visiting the historic North Pacific Cannery, in Port Edward (20 km to the south). The oldest surviving salmon cannery in North America, it tells the story of a time when nearly 30 kg sockeye were the norm and thousands of men and women up and down the coast made a living off the sea.
Most of the one thousand other canneries have been destroyed, many leaving behind no trace of their existence. Fortunately, the North Pacific was declared a National Historical Site two decades ago, nearly a century after it was built.
But, for the non-profit group that runs the site, it’s an ongoing battle to keep the decrepit buildings from crumbling into the river. Our tour guide Tyler Lieb points to the rotting planks. “We have to replace a board or a piling every week to keep it up.”
Most of the cannery has been restored so a visit here is like reliving the “olden days,’ the good and the bad. Learn about the children who worked the canning lines, (the original machinery is still intact), window shop at the general store as you stroll down the boardwalk or take a peek into the houses where Chinese, Japanese, Europeans and First Nations lived in harmony.
However, the area’s history goes back much further. Try 10,000 years. Long before the arrival of Europeans, the northwest coast was one of the most densely populated areas of North America.
Prince Rupert lies in the heart of traditional Tsimshian First Nation territory. The Nisga’a, Haida and Gitxsan are their neighbours and the entire region is rich with their tradition and culture.
The Museum of Northern B. C. is the best place to learn more. Right in the heart of town, you can actually see the striking longhouse-style building from the cruise ship. Beautifully preserved artifacts and artwork weave a colourful history. You can even see modern artists at work in the museum’s First Nations Carving House.
Or participate in a Tsimshian Feast ceremony at the longhouse, complete with seaweed and soapberries, which apparently taste like – you guessed it- soap.
Fortunately, I am about to chow down on much tastier traditional food as I lounge by the banks of the Exchamsiks.
Bertha Haizimsque, a Nisga’a elder from nearby Aiyansh, is in charge of lunch for our tour. Boy, does she deliver. Freshly-caught Nass River sockeye salmon, barbecued over an open fire.
I’ll try not to make you salivate with the details, but suffice to say it was the best salmon I’ve ever eaten. Just a clean, wild taste, unlike anything I’ve eaten in the Lower Mainland.
“Now you can see why I wouldn’t eat any salmon when I was living in Vancouver,” Bertha laughs, with a twinkle in her eye.
And as we bid our farewells, she says, “in the Nisga’a language, there is no word for goodbye.”
How appropriate. Because I Know I’ll be back.
IF YOU GO
--Info: http://www.tourismprincerupert.com/; 1-200-667-1994
--Getting there: Celebrity, Norwegian, Radisson Seven Seas, Silversea and Holland America all have itineraries featuring stops in Prince Rupert. These trips depart from Seattle (http://www.rupertport,com/ for an updated list)
B. C. Ferries also sails there through the Inside Passage but the itinerary has changed due to the sinking of the Queen of the North. The Queen of Prince Rupert returned to service April 15, but no cabins are available on this ferry. (http://www.bcferries.com/)
--What to see: North Pacific Cannery Village Museum (http://www.cannery.ca/), Museum of Northern B. C. (http://www.museumofnorthernbc.com)/
--Adventures: For jet-boat tours, grizzly bear and wildlife viewing, fishing expeditions, contact Silvertip EcoTours (http://www.silvertipecotours.com/)
--Where to eat: Seafood is king here, so make sure you sample local salmon, halibut and crab. Lots of places are within walking distance of the cruise-ship terminal. There are amazing views from the Crest Waterfront Restaurant (250-624-6771). The Cow Bay Café is a favourite (250-627-1212). For a quick bite or jolt of java, stop at Cowpuccino’s Coffee House (205-627-1395)
--Where to Stay: The Crest Hotel (http://www.cresthotel.bc/) doubles from $109 sits right on the water with a killer view of the harbour. There are a few bed and breakfasts in town, too. Try Andree’s (http://www.andreesbb.com/) doubles from $75) or Eagle Bluff (www.citytel.net/eaglebluff) doubles from $65.
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