News release

Tourism Remains A Billion-Dollar Business

Tourism, Culture and Heritage (Dec. 2003 - Jan. 2011)

Tourism in Nova Scotia remains a billion-dollar-plus business, employing more than 33,000 people despite a number of challenges.

"The 2006 tourism plan for the province will focus on such things as improving transportation links to the province and continuing to improve and develop our major tourism attractions while creating new experiences," said Rodney MacDonald, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. "The province will also explore opportunities for marketing in new areas, such as western Canada, China and Europe."

The year-end 2005 statistics and 2006 plan were released today, Nov. 14, during the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia's (TIANS) annual conference and trade show in Halifax.

The statistics show the number of American visitors to Canada is at a 25-year low, while a stronger Canadian dollar saw an increase in the number of Canadians visiting the United States and overseas. An increase in the number of visitors to Nova Scotia from overseas was not enough to compensate for these trends.

"Throughout the country, operators are having a hard time dealing with a combination of high gas prices, a strong Canadian dollar and a decline in American travel," said Nicholas Carson, chair of TIANS. "Here in Nova Scotia, the loss of the Scotia Prince ferry service (between Portland, Me. and Yarmouth) had a dramatic impact on tourism operators in the south-west region, and was felt in all other parts of the province."

Tourism operators in southwestern Nova Scotia are looking forward to the resumption of ferry service between Yarmouth and Portland, Me., in 2006. Bay Ferries Limited will run its high-speed ferry, The Cat, to Yarmouth three days a week, thanks to a $1.25-million investment from the provincial government.

The 2005 year-end statistics show that, from January to the end of September, 1,712,000 visitors came to Nova Scotia. That represents a five per cent drop from the 1,804,400 visitors who came to the province during the same period last year. There were 13 per cent fewer visitors from the United States and the statistics show a 23 per cent increase in the number of visitors from overseas. Accommodation activity was down by about three per cent while camping activity was up about one per cent. Current projections suggest tourism revenues for 2005 will be $1.29 billion, down slightly from last year's $1.31 billion.

Highlights of the 2005 season included: the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Port Royal, the 50th anniversary of the Canso Causeway, the Canadian Ladies Open Golf Championship in Hammonds Plains, the East Coast Music Awards in Sydney, and major national and international recognition for the Cape Breton Highlands National Park, the Highlands Links Golf Course, and Keltic Lodge. Nova Scotia's tourism campaign was also named the best in the country for the second time in three years by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.

Each year a new tourism plan is developed by the Tourism Partnership Council, an industry-government partnership. Each plan is based on research and is customer focused. The 2006 tourism plan will address two major trends in how visitors are planning and taking their vacations.

"We are seeing our visitors taking shorter, last minute vacations, and the exploding use of the Internet to plan and book those vacations," said Charles Clerk, chair of the council. "We will work with that information to make it as easy as possible for people to research, customize, and purchase their own Nova Scotia experience."

Nova Scotia's tourism industry continues to benefit from co-ordinated marketing and research from such organizations as the Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership and the Canadian Tourism Commission. The commission is currently conducting comprehensive research in the American market and the results are expected early next year. It is hoped the research will shed some light on the continuing decline in the number of visitors from the U.S.

"The Nova Scotia government's commitment to tourism is strong and clear, with an additional $10 million invested this year in marketing, regional tourism and tourism development," said Mr. MacDonald. "Much of that investment is still at work and will have a lasting and positive impact for years to come."

Interest in Nova Scotia as a vacation destination remains high with more than two million visitors to the tourism website novascotia.com along with six thousand downloads of information.