Say Hullo to love

Tougas says due to Vancouver having more opportunities to meet people, he found many are willing to travel to Vancouver to meet a new match. Photo: Hullo

Finding love on choppy waters isn’t always that easy, but with Valentine's Day in the next couple of months, there’s a great opportunity to find your forever first mate. Hullo and the Vancouver Island Ferry Company are here to help with that. 

Applications are now open for Hullo’s High-Speed Speed Dating event.

Hullo, the same company that brought you the 70-minute ferry from downtown Nanaimo straight to downtown Vancouver, is now bringing you a speed dating event to help you set sail on both their ship and in love.

Xander France, Hullo’s director of Marketing and Sales said this idea came from feedback from riders who would use the ship to stay connected with their long distance relationships.

The event will take 40 singles–20 from the Mainland side and 20 from the Vancouver Island side–and have them meet and mingle during their 70-minute voyage from Nanaimo to Vancouver. 

The event is taking place on February first, right before Valentine's Day.

The event will take place on their top deck but France said the bottom deck where the majority of the seats are, will still be available for regular riders. 

“We're really setting the upstairs there's going to be very much like a vibe of having music and entertainment and games on that top level with photography and videography and a few other things,” France said. “So we really wanted to kind of, you know, be private upstairs but while still offering sailings for our guests at the lower level comfort service level” 

If the applicants are chosen, the event is free to participate in. Those coming from Vancouver will head over to Nanaimo on the ferry beforehand and after the event, the Nanaimo participants will have seats reserved for their ride back.

France said this event goes along with the Hullo missions to connect people.

“A big part of our brand is–and just the name Hullo itself is an ode to friendliness and connectivity, and we're connecting to great communities– downtown to downtown, Nanaimo to Vancouver,” France said.

For what comes next, France jokes that some popup weddings could be in the future for some participants but for now, they hope this event opens up the idea that travel from Nanaimo to Vancouver doesn’t also have to be that difficult. 

“I mean, at the end of the day, it's just about inspiring people, it's getting people to consider that there are so many reasons to cross the Salish Sea to go to Vancouver for the day, to go for a date to go for a date night or an activity,” France said.

He also said the event is for bringing awareness to the services Hullo offers. 

“So I think for more than anything, it's driving the awareness that this new service is available, that Hullo is here for the long haul, and to let people know that we're here to have some fun,” France said.

Nathaniel Tougas has run speed dating events in Nanaimo, after participating in one in Victoria. He hosted his last speed dating event with one of his friends at the Nanaimo Bar back in October. 

He said in Nanaimo, there are a lot of Facebook pages for those single and looking to meet new people online. He said that he has a preference for meeting people in person and wanted to give others opportunities to meet new people in person as well.

“I'm able to understand others better in person versus just doing like the first dating app photo that shows up is like the make or break or the first thing that you text or whatever. There's so much pressure on that,” Tougas said. “What I wanted to do and what my friend and I wanted to do was offer an opportunity to get to meet someone, kind of considered like the old school way of getting to meet someone more genuine, more ourselves.”

From what he has seen running his first speed dating event, is that Nanaimo does not have many locations for meeting new people.

“There aren't like a lot of meet-up places, or events or venues, other than maybe regular bars that people go to,” Tougas said. “But that's not necessarily the scene that people want to meet others in to make those romantic connections.”

Tougas said the dating scene in Vancouver is a lot bigger where people might meet up every day compared to to Nanaimo where people might meet only on weekends.

“A lot of times people leave from here to go to other places like Victoria or Vancouver on the weekend because there isn't much of a scene here,” Tougas said.

He said due to Vancouver having more opportunities to meet people, especially younger people, he found many are in long-distance relationships and are willing to travel to Vancouver to meet a new match.  

Although he thinks Hullo’s speed dating event could just be a marketing campaign to get more young people on the ship, he is interested in the event and sees how it could be a good way for new connections to be made.

Those seeking to find love and set sail on a new adventure can apply before the deadline of January 21, 2024.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.