Sechelt council accepted a Sechelt Visitor Centre statistics report at their Feb. 15 meeting that showed a drastic decline in the number of people using visitor information centres throughout the Coast.
"If you look at that [report], it's considerable. Visitors are down in the range of 18 to 22.6 per cent," said Coun. Mike Shanks.
The report outlines the total decline in visitors between 2010 and 2011 with Sechelt seeing a 19.2 per cent loss in foot traffic, Gibsons a 22.6 decline and Powell River an 18 per cent loss.
Coun. Darnelda Siegers said the report also shows a higher number of hits on the visitor information website, which could account for the decrease in personal visits.
"They're [the Sechelt Visitor Centre] going to be doing some more work on that and sending us more information later," she added.
The report shows a total of 50,410 visitors to the website since it was launched in May 2010.
Order of B.C.
Council received a letter from the Honours and Awards Secretariat asking for local nominations for the Order of British Columbia.
The Order of B.C. is the province's highest honour. Established in 1989, the award recognizes people who have "served with the highest distinction and excelled in any field of endeavour that benefits the people of B.C. or elsewhere."
The award is open to any resident of B.C. or former long-term resident who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in an area that benefits people.
Nominees must have made an impact in an area like community leadership, business, labour, industry, volunteer service, a chosen profession, research, culture, arts or sports.
Federal, provincial and municipal representatives are not eligible to receive the award.
Nomination forms are available online at www.orderofbc.gov.bc.ca and entries must be in by March 10, 2012.
For more information, see the website or phone the Honours and Awards Secretariat at 1-250-387-1616.
