Gastown struggles to draw Olympic crowds

Hard-hit Gastown merchants are trying to steer Vancouver’s Olympic revellers into their area.

With sales at bars and restaurants down by about 30 per cent, a push is on to get people to walk northeast away from the Robson Street crowds and down to Gastown, where there are no lineups and business owners have staff ready to serve.

“We aren’t getting the tourists,” said Richard Gallagher, a partner at Engine Digital, a Gastown marketing agency.

He admits many Gastown business owners expected people would walk into their area on their own while in downtown Vancouver for Olympic celebrations.

It hasn’t worked out that way, and Gallagher notes that many people are waiting for hours in line-ups to get into a beer tent out of the Gastown area.

“Instead of sitting inside a tent in a parking lot, we are saying come to Gastown where there are no tents, no lineups — and actual bars,” he said.

Galllagher spent part of Saturday standing at Robson and Granville Street passing out flyers to promote Gastown.

“We want to let them know there are other things going on and we needed something to get people down here,” he said of the flyers being handed out.

The flyers include maps showing how to get to Gastown.