Victoria's key tourism industry is suffering from the city's image as a place for little more than English gardens and high tea. Not to mention raw sewage.
The total number of visitors to the British Columbia capital has been flat for about a decade and revenues aren't keeping up with inflation, according to BC Business magazine (registration required). The city recently launched a C$160,000 effort to rebrand itself as a destination for dining, shopping and outdoor sports. But hurdles include dowdy shops downtown, an old ferry terminal and a relatively small C$3 million marketing budget.
The city's image has also been hurt by its continued dumping of millions of gallons of raw sewage into the ocean, though the government recently announced plans to build a treatment system. Delta Air Lines is launching seasonal nonstop flights to Salt Lake City next summer, which could reverse the 8 percent drop in visitors from the U.S. earlier this year. That's important because visitors from the U.S. generally spend more than those from elsewhere in Canada. But Victoria has a way to go before it can capitalize on the exposure of the 2010 Olympics.