PORT ANGELES — Bruce Carter, chief executive officer of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, talked about business in the city across the Strait of Juan de Fuca and gave a little advice to area business and economic development leaders Tuesday.
Carter — who also toured the Port of Port Angeles and other areas during a two-day visit that began Monday — discussed what makes Victoria successful with a group of about 35 people at the Port Angeles Business Association meeting Tuesday morning.
He said that the greater Victoria area has five major industries that sustain it.
“I call it the billion-dollar club,” he said, and cited annual revenues for four of the five industries.
In U.S. dollars, the technology industry brings in about $1.88 billion annually, followed by tourism and education, which each net about $1.13 billion. The marine sector’s revenue is about $940,000 in U.S. dollars — a flat $1 million in Canadian dollars.
Carter didn’t provide revenue figures for the fifth sector — government — saying that there are too many ways to enumerate the value of the jobs it provides.
“If you look at it directly, it employs about 10,000 people,” Carter said. “But if you look at all the people who actually work for the government in contracts and such, it is about 50,000 out of a labor force of about 140,000.”
Entrepreneurs
Technology is tops because of entrepreneurs, he said.
“We have several really successful entrepreneurs who will start a business, build it up and it will become really successful, and then they will sell it and it will end up moved to somewhere else,” he said.
“The businesses are here because the people who build them love Victoria. That is the reason.”
Tourism is developing, Carter said.
“We have a very long history in tourism, but we haven’t done a great job in adapting our selves to the modern traveler,” Carter said.
“It used to be that people would go to The [Fairmont] Empress to have high tea, walk around downtown and shop — but that isn’t the norm any more. People are looking more for the experiential tourism.
“They are talking about biking up the island and whale watching in an open boat and feeling the spray on their faces,” Carter said.
Tour operators
Carter advised businesses and economic development leaders to focus on partnerships with tour operators.
“I’m open to partnerships, of course,” he said. “But it is one thing to chat me up at the chamber, but what is important is getting those people who are going to actually be doing the business.
He urged talking with tour operators about the target market and convincing them that tours of the North Olympic Peninsula would benefit them.
“Then you don’t even have to do anything with marketing because they’ll do it themselves — although I certainly would support them with marketing of my own,” Carter said.
He said those doing the marketing also should evaluate the competition.
“One of the questions I’ve had here is how to attract the people who are going to Seattle or Vancouver,” he said. “My answer is that you can’t.
“The thing is, those people are looking for the urban experience and you can’t offer that.”
He said that although the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia are expected to draw thousands of people, he doesn’t expect them to visit Victoria.
“We had a little experience with Expo ’86,” Carter said. “At that time you could have fired a cannon through the streets of Victoria.”
The World’s Fair — or the 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication — was held in Vancouver, and drew more than 22 million people in a five-month period.
Carter said that, although there would be other economic benefits to the region — especially to Victoria as the capital of the province — tourism wouldn’t likely see an increase because of the Olympics.
Last month, PABA heard from Ken Kelly, general manager of the Downtown Victoria Business Association, who recommended a variety of promotions to bring in business traffic — everything from free coffee to “meter fairies,” who slip money into parking meters to give people a surprise extra 15 minutes to shop or dine downtown and leave cards noting the gift.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
