COVID-19 crushes Nova Scotia tourist season

February is a vital month for Grant Haverstock.

Iron Mountain wilderness Cabins co-owner in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, said that within a year of starting their business they were already beginning to locate good luck with the four-season tourist attraction, which he enjoyed at the time of his proximity to the snowmobile. Roads.

“Business is booming,” Haverstock said in an interview Friday. “The cabins were all reserved, the pub jumping. Incredible February. “

Not the following month, thanks to the maximum number of unwanted arrivals in Nova Scotia: COVID-19.

Like many tour operators, Haverstock and theirs have had to pay back reservations and are now deeply in debt and highly insecure.

Across the province, members of one of Nova Scotia’s most lucrative sectors must discover how, or even if they can, adapt to a tourism industry that has noticed that crowds of potential consumers are marginalized by COVID-19 and the effects of the disease on travel. .

Cruise shipping season has been cancelled, business trips and conferences have sold out, air traffic has still disappeared, and anyone coming from the Canadian Atlantic who needs to come here will have to spend their first 14 days in quarantine. Disastrous.

As the season approaches, Tourism Nova Scotia’s monetary model has shown that the industry could suffer at least $1 billion as a result of the pandemic. This prediction turned out to be accurate. A year after the sector recorded revenue of $2. 6 billion, this year it is on its way to around $900 million.

The stage prevented some companies from opening this year, while others packed it early, adding Cabot Links and Cabot Cliffs golf courses in Inverness.

“It’s where we are and how serious it is,” said Business Minister Geoff MacLellan.

The minister said the province is aware that operators are suffering. Many restaurants continue to struggle with traffic relief due to public fitness guidelines, fewer people go out to eat, others flee the house and fewer tourists. , are experiencing amazing discounts on bookings, with some sites operating at an occupancy rate of just over 20%.

“We’ll have to and all the functions are still on the table,” MacLellan said.

This can come with a $50 million fund managed through Dalhousie University. A spokesman for the MacLellan branch said The COVID Response Council in Nova Scotia was meeting to find out what to do with the money, Prime Minister Stephen McNeil and MacLellan expressed a preference to see at least one party pass to major tour operators.

MacLellan said he was ready for others in the tourism sector to want even more assistance and that the province would do what it could.

Anna Moran, Director of Research and Policy at Tourism Nova Scotia, said Crown Corporation is reorienting its marketing to target others who are willing to do so in Nova Scotia and Nova Scotia with the purpose of extending the tourist season to some extent until the autumn of winter.

“Now we know that each and every guest is a smart guest,” he said. “What we’re doing now is maximizing the potential that’s likely found in a limited group of travelers. “

In parallel with these new marketing efforts, which will focus primarily on the Atlantic provinces, Moran said the organization is also working with the industry to help it adapt to what deserves to be a dubious moment for the foreseeable future.

There have been some positive aspects, especially in rural areas, thanks to staycations, MacLellan said.

Pictou Lodge delayed its opening for a month until mid-June, and only after the announcement of the Atlantic bubble. General manager Wes Surrett said that even with public fitness restrictions, the hostel posted better-than-expected figures for July and August. probably due to his ability to offer distributed activities and his proximity to Prince Edward Island.

“It hasn’t been a typical season,” he said, “but it’s much, much bigger than expected. “

All this is enough to ensure the hostel’s return for next season, however, Surrett said demanding situations persist. Traffic has still run out this month, ordinary European and American travelers can’t visit, and it’s only hosted two weddings. this season, facing the same 30 as usual.

For Haverstock and many other traders, however, the long term is much less secure. They want help and they’ll want it soon,” he said.

“We don’t even earn enough to make our mortgage [payments] and we have everything at stake. We may end up wasting everything. “

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