| Ferry bypass hurts tourism Flow of RVs on highway has slowed to a trickle By JEFF NAGEL LOCAL BUSINESSES that depend on the Stream of American tourists along Hwyi6 are being hammered by the canceilalion of the Alaskan ferry service to Prince Rupert. Tourists are slaying away in droves and the usual flood of American RVs heading for Prince Rupert and then Alaska has slowed to a trickle. “We're feeling a tremendous effect from it,’ said Wild Duck Motel and RV Park owner Yvonne Danroth, In-a-normal year, 50,000 passengers pass through the Alaska Marine Highway’s Prince Rupert terminal going to and from southeast Alaska, Most of them travel along Hwyl6, through Terrace, But all that changed in mid-July when Prince Rupert fishermen — angered by the Canada- - U.S. salmon war — carried out a three-day + blockade of the Alakan ferry Malaspina. That ferry was allowed to leave Prince Rupert on July 21, but Alaskan governor Tony Knowles hasn’t allowed another ferry to return to Prince Rupert since then. _ He wants assurances that there will be no more ferry blockades in Prince Rupert and that the state get more than $1.5 million U.S. in financial compensation. So far it’s at an impasse, with no sign of a deal, And for business owners like Danroth at the Wild Duck, it’s been like tuming off the flow of customers. “Right up to August 51h I never had an empty RV spot,” she said. “I was full for months and into overflow just about every night. _ “Now Pm running about 25 per cent capacity “If people think this is just going to affect Prince Rupert, they’re very very wrong. And _ they’re going to have big problems on their hands.” in my park. It’s a massive drop. It’s just enormous,” Danroth is now hoping for some resolution of the ferry dispute in time for next year. “Tf they chop that ferry out of Rupert it’s going to devastate us,’” she said. The Alaskan ferry service bas issued its schedules for September — to the end of the peak summer season — and they don’t include any stops in Prince Rupert. The port city is instead bypassed by three big Alaskan ferries which. are now going directly to Bellingham, ‘Another Prince Rupert delegation to southeast Alaska is planned, but North by Northwest Tourism Association spokesman Marilyn Quil- ley isn’t optimistic. ‘We're not expecting the Alaskan ferries to come back to Prince Rupert,” Quilley said, ad- ding the region bas to remain hopeful. { MOST OF THE RVs parked ¢ at the Wild Duck Motel and RV Park are now business visitors to town or new residents looking for housing. Owner Yvanne Danroth says she presently has no tourists staying there. She blames a dramatic slowdown on the cancel- lation of the Alaskan ferry service run to Prince Rupert. North by Northwest is conducting a survey of its members to try to gauge the damage. to the Tegion’s tourism industry. They'll then use those figures to argue for fed- eral grant money to bankroll a communications and marketing plan to win back American customers early next year. ‘Our understnading is there is considerable lost revenue,’’ Quilley said. ‘‘Our members are very concemed. It wasn’t one of our better sea- sons to begin with anyway.’ . We're very concemed with the perception that British Columbia maybe isn’t going to be a favoured’ destination for long haul U.S. markets.” Prince Rupert is taking the biggest pounding from the loss of visitors to its city. Businesses there have laken to putting up signs in windows calling on politicians to quick- ly solve the dispute. But Prince Rupert’s loss has turned out 10 be a gain for the also economically troubled town of Stewart, The Alaskan ferry system has doubled the fre-~ quency of its stops there from once every two weeks to every week. The MV Aurora, which travels between Stewart and Ketchikan, is a small boat carrying up to 40 cars and 300 passengers. But its presence has been felt there, delivering tourists to cash-starved Stewart businesses. ‘*We've had quite a number of people,”’ said Stewart tourist information centre work Nikki Witwer. “The ferry has been booked totally full.’” But Danroth said ihe damage is nol limited to just Prince Rupert. “If people think this is just going to affect Prince Rupert, they’re very very wrong. And they’re going to have big problems on their hands.”” Terrace Tourist Infocentre worker Julia Moore agrees, She said the number of tourist visits here was strong up until July, but the numbers have fallen off in August. “Many, many tourists — mainly Americans and Germans — have been extremely dis- appointed and annoyed,’’ she said of the ferry cancellation. RV parks and bed and breakfasts are the main businesses feeling the effects, Moore said. It’s believed communities in southeast Alaska are also hurting from the loss.of the Canadian ~, connection. But members of-a Prince Rupert delegatioy tlid¢ headed north said those towns are surprisingly united behind the state’s deci- sion. The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, August 27, 1997 - A3_ News 1n Brief Suspected thieves caught TWO YOUTHS were arrested last week in connection with several thefts from vehicles in the Terrace area, Terrace RCMP received 8 call at about 4 a.m. August 20 from a citizen advising them that two males were trying to break into vehicles on Hamer Street. A police patrol soon located the men, aged 16 and 18, of Terrace. Nearby, police found a pack containing numerous items of stolen property that had been taken from vehicles on the bench and in the horseshoe area. Police say the matter is still under investigation and charges are expected to be laid. The police would also like to remind the public to lock up because vehicle break-ins are common during the summer months Man shoots self after fire A LOCAL MAN apparently set fire to his home, just east of Terrace, then shot himself in the early morming hours of August 20. Police say Terrace RCMP, ambulance and the Thorn- hill Voluntecr Fire Department all responded to a call of a shooting and house fire at about 1 a.m. last Wed- nesday. A 40-year-old man was found near his home with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken to Mills Memorial, then transferred to Vancouver. The fire was cxtinguished, but the house suffered ex- tensive damage, Bus service improves THE TERRACE regional transit system is moving in new directions this fall. Increased services on a number of routes, cheaper student semester bus passes and taxi supplements to the handyDART system are a few of the changes to come. The college semester pass will cost students $70, a, savings of $10 over purchasing separate monthly passes. For a $1.50, the taxi supplement will allow seniors and disabled riders who are not wheelchair bound to use the same services as the HandyDART. Rides that cannot be met by handyDART will be dis- paiched to Kalum Kabs who will pick up the pas- sengers, It is eslimated that the taxi supplement service will provide an additional 900 rides annually, Some changes to the bus routes include an additional . trip a day to the college and an added trip to the num- ber three Keith route on Saturday morning. Thinking about natives CITY COUNCIL’s ‘‘think tank” session in June concluded council should try to meet more regularly with neighbouring Tsimshian native bands. The Kitselas band, based on Queensway, and the Kit- sumkalum band, just west of town, are the two closest native villages, Council also wants to dust off an idea that was mised by local Tsimshian leaders a couple of years ago and explore the possibility of establishing a native art and cultural centre as a tourism altraction in Terrace. 's Council is asking its Tourism and Economic Ad- visory Commission to do what it can to help revitalize the idea. 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