With onset of its second anniversary, a foot passenger ferry service shuttling customers between downtown Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver has experienced significant growth over the past year.
Hullo made its maiden voyages across the Strait of Georgia on Aug. 16, 2023.
A press release from the ferry company pointed to a 40-per cent increase in passenger numbers from 2024 to 2025, and also the service's reliability. During two years of operation, 95 per cent of Hullo ferries' planned sailings have departed and since last September, 90 per cent of departures have left within five minutes of their scheduled sailing time, the press release stated.
In order to accommodate Island residents seeking to attend night events like concerts and sporting events on the Lower Mainland, Hullo has been offering late-night sailings, allowing people the ability to "catch their favourite sports teams and concerts in the city and travel back in comfort the same night, saving on costly hotel stays," the release noted.
There have been more than 170 late-night sailings to date
According to Sekhar Angepat, Hullo founder and chief revenue officer, the company's intention isn't only to draw on customers from "traditional services," but to bolster "the entire travel market."
"By creating new possibilities like same-day event trips, we're enabling journeys that people simply weren't making before. The stories we hear from our passengers confirm we're on the right track," he said in the release.
