In response to the Jan. 9 issue “Tourism in Jeopardy” letter, I am wondering where Mike Woodhouse gathers his information regarding local tourism? He reports that he “heard of, “has been told” and “feels that the local population and tourism operators are killing our industry out here” and ends his letter by stating that he feels the road is unsafe.
I have been a B&B owner/operator here for the past 20 years and throughout that time have been very involved with the Sooke B&B Association and also with the original Sooke Region Tourism Association (2000). I can assure Mr. Woodhouse that the Sooke B&B Association has always promoted travel beetween Sooke and Port Renfrew. Most of my guests are exploring the drive and the west coast beaches and trails along the West Coast Road and almost all tell me that they carried on as far as Port Renfrew and stopped for lunch and/or dinner along the way. Also we have noticed - especially last year - that an increasing number of guests are travelling the Pacific Marine Circle Route which has been improved recently along the link between Port Renfrew to Lake Cowichan. We include this newly established route on our association website and on 25,000 copies of our B&B, Dining & Attractions Guide. Also the Sooke to Port Renfrew Wild by Nature brochure is widely distributed and I know it is included in detail in other local tourist publications and maps.
Last summer Port Renfrew and the Sooke B&B Assoc. hosted a group of Lake Cowichan B&B owners who wanted to establish a working relationship between our groups along the PMC Route.
There is another side to your negative opinion Mr. Woodhouse - many of us work very hard at promoting local tourism.
Sheila and Al Carter
Sooke