Some positive news this week out of Gibsons has us anticipating quite a busy summer on the lower Coast.
The New Beachcombers' crew is coming back for a month of filming in July and August for a Christmas Beachcombers movie to air in December on CBC.
This is great news for the Coast and especially Gibsons. We should all be excited about the filming and the economic spin-offs.Some have suggested that this might have a negative impact on the summer tourism traffic, but we wonder how could something so positive have any negatives?
Jackson Davies, executive producer of the movie, is quick to point out that the exposure Gibsons has received because of the Beachcombers franchise is immense. No other community in Canada can say they are the home of the Beachcombers. People come from all over the world to visit Gibsons. If you want proof of that, just flip through the guest registry the next time you're down at Molly's Reach for a meal.
Bringing a film crew in for a month means employment for extras and film production people here on the Coast, as Davies has already said they will try to use as many local people as possible in the production. It means hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts will be full for a month as accommodation for the film crew, not to mention all the businesses benefiting from the production.
The crew has to eat while they're here, and if they need supplies, they're going to be buying things in Gibsons, not jumping back on the ferry to Vancouver.
And what better draw for tourists is there than telling the whole world to come to Gibsons this summer to see the Beachcombers being filmed? This fact alone surely will bring even more people to the Coast this summer to spend their tourism dollars in this community.
Sure, there might be some traffic delays and a street or two might have to be disrupted to film a few scenes, but when a community is blessed with getting a film production of this magnitude, it should be welcomed with open arms.
The Sunshine Coast is a tourism mecca, and the opportunities for more film production here are tremendous.
Let's set the example this summer with the Beachcombers and show the movie industry that this is a special place and an ideal spot to come and film.
