The Spotlight is a series of interviews with the craft beer heroes behind local organizations who are helping grow the beer scene in our fine city. This week’s spotlight is on Terminal City Tours
Terminal City Tours is a dream of James Piry and Martin Blasiak’s that has been in the works since December 2013. Friends since their teenage years, these two gents have a shared passion for beer and for Vancouver. James has spent a large chunk of his career working in the automotive industry, until about 2008 when he left for Latin America to teach SCUBA diving. “Spending time in Argentina and Chile taught me a lot about wine and gastronomy. This gave me an interest in really discovering local craft beer upon my return to Vancouver,” James explains. And he did just that – in fact James, his wife, and Martin are all card-carrying members of CAMRA.
Martin has a passion for all things Vancouver. He loves this city and everything it has to offer. He worked as a bus driver for a local Vancouver company for years, but 2 years ago Martin came back from Seattle having experienced the craft beer scene and he started weighing the possibility of starting a tour company that offered brewery tours. Partnering with James, they got to work doing just that. Before they knew it, they had Terminal City Tours up and running. For those that don’t know the history behind the name, the Canadian Pacific Railway selected Vancouver as Canada’s Pacific Terminus in the 1800’s. This gave Vancouver the nickname “The Terminal City”. Martin and James pay homage to that history by keeping that nickname in their company moniker.
Terminal City Tours doesn’t just offer brewery tours, though that is what they specialize in. These guys have a love and passion for life and the beautiful city we call home. In James’ words: “We place high value on enjoying life and we feel that this can be passed on to our guests. Educating people about beer is great, but we also want people to enjoy the whole experience and go away having a great time with a little bit of extra knowledge as a bonus.” With that in mind, Terminal City offers tours that are customizable to whatever you want. You can take it up the sea to sky, or stay in the city. As James says, “We operate in and around the Vancouver area, however you wouldn’t have to twist our arms to0 hard to convince us to drive further.”
They are very excited to offer their new program, their “Beer and Spirits Tour” in which they stop at craft breweries and distilleries. They explain: “This provides our guests the opportunity to experience both craft beer and spirits. We have received some great feedback from this tour and it is a unique option to bring along friends that aren’t totally sold on craft beer….yet!”
I’m sure you are all wondering what is in it for CAMRA and its members? Well, Terminal City Tours has offered CAMRA members a 25% discount on their tours! Sounds like a pretty great deal, so why not head on out and support some local guys that love beer and love Vancouver! You can book a tour by clicking here. All tours start and end at Waterfront Station and last about 3.5 hours on average. Not sure what you want? Just give them a call! They are as easy going as it gets and want to make sure you get the most bang for your buck!
David Perry – @davidjp87
Community Liason – CAMRA BC, Vancouver Chapter
[ls_divider type=”dotted” color=”grey”]
You can find more information about Terminal City Tours on Facebook, Twitter or their website.
Leave a Reply