Update on Storyeum Bankruptcy!

Well, the time has come and the Vancouver attraction Storyeum has now closed its doors. The last show was performed last night & unfortunately there are now 70 staff that are now out of work…plus they owe the City of Vancouver $5 million!

And in news about the BC Experience, it looks like they might make the BC Experience building an extension of the Conference Centre (behind the Empress Hotel) in Victoria which would be great for functions and events.

I’ll keep you all updated on what is happening with these attractions…

British Columbia attractions file bankruptcy!

In the last couple of weeks, two of British Columbia’s major tourist attractions have filed Chapter 11 - declared bankruptcy! Why??

Storyeum - opened on the 1st of June, 2004 (still trading - was given an extension to work on financial plans) and it is an interactive museum, with actors, songs, singing and lots of movement as you walk through the history of British Columbia. I attended an industry night and I was impressed but it definately required a lot of people to visit to keep it going. Cost = $22 Million

BC Experience - opened on June 26th, 2006 (closed September 2006)and it was called ‘A Living Experience’ where you actually looked over a huge map of British Columbia (worlds largest 3D Map) and there were also lots of interactive displays. Cost = $20 Million

So here we have two multi-million dollar tourist attractions, both very unique but what went wrong? Simple…the locals weren’t interested and they were solely relying on tourists who weren’t willing to pay the approx. entry $20-$30 per adult especially seeing as though Western Canada tourism is mostly outdoors experiencing what the land has to offer and not seeing it portrayed indoors.

Would you buy your next holiday from Ebay?

Think about it…you buy presents, books and a tonne of other items from Ebay, so would you buy a vacation?

There are airfares, vacation packages, hotel accommodation, self catering houses and a lot more all up for auction, but would you trust buying your next holiday from the auction site?

There are some good deals to be had and people are bidding, but would you?

For the love of museums…

The Egyptian Cultural Ministry is planning on building a museum in every city in Egypt to preserve its heritage and raise cultural awareness.This is a great move for tourism and museum lovers!

Maybe more cities should be thinking along these lines?

Top 10 Neighbourhoods of Vancouver, British Columbia - Canada

Whenever I travel somewhere, I always try & get out of the city to see the neighbourhoods and see how people actually live.

Here is a quick run-down of the top ten neighbourhoods in Vancouver:

1. Granville Island - once home to factories and sawmills, it is now home to a great public market, art studios and funky shops. It is within walking distance of downtown or you can catch a ferry.
2. Kerrisdale - known as the ‘village’ it is about 10 minutes from downtown and has lots of shops and tree-lined streets. There are some nice houses here too.
3. Yaletown - I used to live here and I loved it. Short walk from downtown, it is home to some super funky shops that used to be old warehouses and make sure you go for a walk along the seawall.
4. West End -Another former living place of mine,right next to Stanley Park, the West End is home to English Bay and Denman Street. This area is mostly residential with lots of apartment buildings but go for a walk towards the city centre and you will find some great houses.
5. South Granville - Lots of shops, theatres, cafes, antique stores and interior design shops.
6. Gastown - the historic part of the city with cobblestone streets and Victorian buildings. It is nice, but super touristy! Lots of souvenir shops.
7. Chinatown - what city doesn’t have a Chinatown! But this one is the 2nd largest in North America (after San Francisco), so it is definitely worth a look.
8. Commerial Drive - also known as ‘the drive’ it is the place to go for the young & hip. There are lots of students, artists, designers etc and lots of places to eat!
9. Graville Street - the place to party if you are in downtown Vancouver. There are tons of restaurants, bars and shops.
10. Kitsilano - once Vancouver’s trendy hippy hangout, it is now home to young professionals and the beach. There are lots of book stores, restaurants and cafes.

Anyone else got any suggestions?

Calgary Stampede!!

It is that time of year when the Calgary Stampede is on…starting officially today with the parade it continues on for another 10 days with competitions, food and fun.

The Stampede is definitely a huge draw for tourists with many of them coming from around the globe to experience being a ‘cowboy’.

Are books a tourist attraction?

Sidney, BC (Canada) is trying to become a ‘book town’, a town where there are a lot of second hand book stores and therefore appealing to a certain tourist.

I hadn’t really heard much about book towns but I went to Sidney and the book stores definitely add a special something and the town was busy with tourists (mainly from the US). Sidney has a total of 9 book stores with a population of 11,000.

Hay-On-Wye is another booktown, this time located in England. They have over 39 book stores with a population of just 1,800.

The book town idea was developed by Richard Booth and has grown to over 44 similar towns worldwide.

If your ideal holiday is digging through 2nd-hand book stores check out the following websites:
- www.booktown.net
- www.booktown.com
- www.booktown.co.uk

Happy reading!

Ever wondered about those little mini-brochures in hotel lobby’s?

You know the ones, the little mini brochures that advertise attractions around the city that are pretty much in every hotel lobby. They are normally in a rack tucked into a corner, but they are definitely there.

The company behind all of those little brochures is Certified Folder. They are the largest professional brochure distribution and display service in North America, providing information at 21,000 locations in Western US and Canada.

What happens to airports when they die?

It looks like the time has come for Montreal’s Mirabel Airport to move on. Since it’s closure in 2004 nothing much has been happening until now…the airport is being transformed into a tropical theme park!

The theme park - AeroDream - will be home to an indoor beach, 3-D movie screens, health centre and an aquarium. It is supposed to be ready for opening in 2007 and I guess that this will be great for tourists and locals in Montreal.

Sometimes it seems like there are theme parks opening up on a weekly basis!

Fresh air, dirt and maybe some animals…sound like fun?

Farm Stays are a great way to spend your holiday. Many offer cheaper board if you help them with the day-to-day operation of the farm. Of course, if you don’t want to spend your entire holiday on a farm, there are always the options of day trips. These are perfect if you have children and are a great way of getting them away from city life plus they might learn something…you never know.

Farm Stays can also be a good alternative for a backpacker if they are running short on cash & don't mind doing a bit of work.