Tourism industry also worried about multi-year shutdown of Royal B.C. Museum
Dave Cowen is well aware Butchart Gardens will bear the heaviest load of tourists during a proposed eight-year shutdown of the Royal B.C. Museum starting in September.
But right now, the general manager of the gardens is struggling to keep pace with an influx of visitors already arriving at the gates eager to escape their pandemic bubbles.
Like many in the tourism industry, Butchart is having difficulty building back the staff it had to cut during the dark days of the COVID-19 shutdowns. And that’s no easy task as the world opens up again, cruise, air and ferry travel picks up, and the tourists pour in.
Visitor numbers to Greater VIctoria are expected to be close to pre-pandemic levels this year, and a full rebound is forecast in 2023.
But with a star attraction shutting down, it may mean another blow on tourism’s horizon.
Butchart is operating during the daytime only right now because of…