Publication date: Aug 08, 2022 • 2 hours ago • 4 min read • 10 comments A Hop On Hop Off bus on East Hastings St. on July 27, 2022. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG

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Tourism websites suggest that you could easily spend half a day in Vancouver’s Chinatown, enjoying the historic neighborhood, exotic restaurants, and specialty shops.

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But in recent days, the comments left by visitors on Tripadvisor have not been so flattering. “Doesn’t feel safe”, “Forbidden area” and “Avoid, avoid, avoid-shocked-concentrated-sad”, were some of the descriptions left by tourists from India, the Netherlands and the UK. widespread graffiti and squalid conditions for the homeless. Business associations near the Downtown Eastside and tourism promoters are meeting this week to discuss what role they can play in improving those bad first impressions. “We’ve heard about the conversations with tourists and the concerns about some of the things people see on the streets. There’s this sense of a dire situation here in the Downtown Eastside, and we’re definitely concerned if it’s going to affect tourism,” said Walley Wargolet, executive director of the Gastown Business Improvement Society.

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It comes as the City of Vancouver works to remove the makeshift shelters on East Hastings Street between Main and Carrall streets, due to fire safety concerns. Scenes from East Hastings St in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) on August 3, 2022. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG On Sunday, the mayor called on the provincial government to reform the justice system to deal with multiple offenders who endanger public safety and to address the need for mental health services after a suspect set fire to an apartment before attacking its residents with a machete. “We’re constantly stressing that we know we’re dealing with a humanitarian crisis – with this camp and the camps in our city – and just a lack of places for people to go. But then, we also have to look at the wider community and the impact that will have as well,” said Wargolet.

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He said that with the pandemic still ongoing, many businesses are still struggling to recover, even though there has been more traffic on the road in recent weeks. “We need years for this to come, and if there’s a bruise on the brand of what Vancouver is, and if it has a negative impact and people don’t want to visit our city, that’s a huge concern that we have and it’s something we have to deal with ». Destination Vancouver CEO Royce Chwin said his organization’s responsibility is to ensure Vancouver can emerge from the pandemic with a vibrant tourism economy, worth $5 billion a year and employing more than 100,000 people. He said there have been negative tourism reviews of these downtown neighborhoods for more than a decade.

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Hop On Hop Off bus at Keefer on Columbia in Vancouver, BC, August 8, 2022. Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG Abelardo Mayoral-Fierros has been booking international bands at venues such as The Rickshaw Theater on East Hastings Street for years. Its returning visitors have long said that some conditions in the Downtown Eastside rank next to streets in bumpy areas of San Francisco or Detroit. But recently, it seemed worse, he said. In April, a band’s tour bus was graffitied and members found people who had overdosed next to and under it. He now hires extra security to monitor their parked buses. “I still do because the space inside is great. During the day, outside, when we unload, there is a screeching sound. It’s more aggressive than it used to be,” Mayoral-Fierros said. Lorraine Lowe, executive director of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, said workers were greeted with racist anti-Asian slurs when they arrived for work, as well as waves of vandalism and rubbish and excrement regularly left at their home. gate.

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“We are very careful in directing visitors back to the beach area, giving them a clear route as to where (not to) go and take an Uber or taxi or walk down Abbott Street and travel north.” She has been in contact with counterparts in Portland and Seattle and said they are reporting a similar situation with the concentration of poverty and drug treatment services. Lowe said it’s complicated, but the result is that some of the poorest and most marginalized residents living in the SROs in East Hastings feel unsafe in their cramped quarters, yelled at and assaulted. Scenes from the Downtown Eastside on East Hastings St. on July 27, 2022. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /PNG Jordan Eng of the Chinatown Business Improvement Association said there are small business owners trying to feed their families and take care of their homes and employees.

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“We grew up in this neighborhood. This has always been a low-income area. SROs were where loggers and miners would come in and drink in pubs and get kind of drunk and rowdy, and stay to dry off and go back to work,” Eng said. “This is a completely different situation. You’re looking at people who have passed out.” [email protected] More news, less ads: Our in-depth journalism is made possible by the support of our subscribers. For just $3.50 a week, you can get unlimited, ad-lite access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, the National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province.

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