Tourism in Cape Breton is very much a valuable and substantial industry, bringing revenue to the accommodations sector, restaurants sector, and the retail sector of the island. Tourism on Cape Breton Island is an industry which has to be nurtured and appreciated as growing in importance, drawing visitors from all over the world to our doors. It is very important that each area of the island keep those doors open by marketing our areas to their fullest; showcasing the natural beauty, culture, and attributes that we have to offer. If we do not have the belief in our own product and portray it as such, why would we expect to see our market grow. Accolades continue to come in regularly on what Cape Breton Island has to offer, including being a number one island destination to visit, the Cabot Trail named as a favorite motorcycle route in the world, the Bras d'Or Lakes Inn named as one of the top small luxury accommodations to stay at in Nova Scotia, Louisbourg's sea food producers having the best lobster and crab at a prominent world food show and the list continues. We have to be proud of our industry and take our place on the world's stage. If we believe in our product and our area, others will to. All over the island our local tourism associations in partnership with municipal government, work very hard to promote their areas; creating activities and events that attract visitors. Destination Cape Breton Association continues to increase our profile and market Cape Breton Island as a world class destination at major travel shows such as Saltscapes, the Atlantic Motorcycle and ATV Show and at key events across Canada and the US.
Each year we see a slight change in the numbers of visitors that come through our visitor information centre's doors, and these changes are due to many factors. In past years, we saw visitors coming to the VICs to make reservations for accommodations. Lately, with more visitors booking accommodations before their trip, we are now seeing visitors coming in to have us help with changing their reservations so that they can stay in an area longer, or they have realized that the timeframe on which they had planned their vacation is just not working and have to reschedule stops. Changes in numbers can also be attributed to road construction in an area, which might cause visitors to take a different route while travelling. Numbers also change from year to year if an area is having a large festival that year, which would draw more visitors to that area, for example when Baddeck celebrated the anniversary of the Silver Dart. Another example of festivals effecting visitors numbers is when we do an evalution on numbers from visitors coming in from a different provinces. If a province has major celebrations taking place, we will see a drop in the numbers of visitors from that area as more people are staying to take part in those events. Stats for visitors being counselled by VIC staff from 2006 to 2010 show the difference in these numbers. In 2006 DCBA's VICs counselled 95,418 visitors, in 2007 75,905, in 2008 91,329, in 2009 84,767 and in 2010 90,247 visitors, were counselled on what they could see and do while on our beautiful island. In a more in depth view for those in the Richmond area, the St. Peter's VIC saw 15,703 visitors in 2006, 15,725 in 2007, 15,755 in 2008, 14,932 in 2009 and 14,867 visitors in 2010. In 2009 and 2010 road construction was taking place on different locations on route #4 and the #104, which might have accounted for the slight difference.
Visitors also use VICsfor many reasons. Destination Cape Breton, which operates the Visitor Information Centres on Cape Breton Island, have described the value of VICs in their marketing plan for 2011 in the following terms: "As far as DCBA is concerned our VIC Counselors are a critical part of our marketing efforts. Visitor Information Services represent an excellent opportunity to drive incremental tourism revenues in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. In essence, Visitor Information Services implies everything from a well-designed Travel Guide, a visitor-friendly web-site, an effective and efficient central reservation service, and an enlightened staff of hosts who are well prepared to “sell” our product to the world."
The VIC's on Cape Breton Island work closely together to sell Cape Breton Island as a travel destination. DCBA has provided it's VIC staff has access to computers which are equipped with a central program, so they can advise visitors on current and up to date events and specials from around the island. This program keeps operators and VIC staff constantly in touch so we can offer the best service possible to our clients.
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