As COVID-19 restrictions ease and March break approaches, the race is on to attract tourists and their tourism dollars to Maritime communities.
Leslie Wilson, the general manager of Ski Wentworth in Wentworth Valley, N.S., says for the most part, business has been booming this season.
“Actually, all weekend we’ve been sold out of both day and night tickets. We have limited capacity just to keep lineups at a reasonable length,” said Wilson.
According to Wilson, people’s desire for safe activities during the pandemic has translated into a successful season on the ski hill.
“In some ways the pandemic has been great for the sport of skiing, just like golf, in that we’ve been able to stay open through the last two seasons,” she said.
Destination Cape Breton CEO Terry Smith says the start of winter tourism season has been challenging, but he’s hoping to see a business boom as COVID-19 restrictions ease.
“Our campaign has had really positive results. Winter traffic to our website is up almost 70 per cent over last year,” said Smith.
“It seems people are having a little more confidence to travel, to get out and go to restaurants and things like that. So, we’re hoping that translates into a good second half of the winter season.”
Meanwhile, Discover Halifax has launched a new website in hopes of attracting families and making it easier for them to find daily activities around the Halifax Regional Municipality.
“There’s a lot to do here over March break and we expect it to be a busy time. The good thing is that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick have different March breaks, as well as Newfoundland. So we’re hope that that staggered activity from those provinces will really impact businesses here,” said Claire Tidby, the vice-president of marketing for Discover Halifax.
