Ottawa Travel & Vacation Show 2011

Peter Johnson of Nova Scotia Tourism stands by the Cabot Trail backdrop

Taste of Nova Scotia's eye catching display

Members of the 78th Highlanders entertain

Back from the Travel and Vacation Show in Ottawa and what a show it was. Exhibitors from all around the world were there, all competing for their share of the world tourism market. It was definitely not an easy sell with such exotic locations on site, but I can say that the Nova Scotia Tourism contingent, led by Peter Johnson did an outstanding job of displaying and promoting all the province has to offer from Yarmouth to Cape Breton. People were out in abundance; the show in full swing from the moment the doors opened at 10am and continuing right through the day. Travel material was picked up and questions were asked about all facets of the tourism market, not only Nova Scotia but also Cape Breton, which was good to see. People were actually coming to the Cape Breton stand and requesting material on the area, saying they had heard great things about the area and wanted to find out more. The new lure promotion cards that Destination Cape Breton Association has produced for this summer worked great with many people commenting that it was great to be able to access our information on their BlackBerry using the new QR code. People were looking for everything from Honeymoon destinations to Golf vacations and I am proud to say that Cape Breton was on the list of to-dos for many of the show's visitors. Taste of Nova Scotia was amazing. Executive Chef Michael Howell, of Tempest Restaurant, offered attendees at the show a taste of heaven as he presented them with superb seafood dishes from Nova Scotia, which included from Cape Breton, Salt Cod Croquettes, Smoked Salmon French Toast, Toast Salmon Oscar, Snow Crab Cakes with Wild Blueberry Salsa from the South Shore of Nova Scotia and Maple Walnut Brittle from Central Nova Scotia. At the onstage cooking demonstration, Nova Scotia Lobster 101 - From the trap to the plate, Howel demonstrated how to make Nova Scotia Lobster Rolls as well as Lobster Cappuccino. Visitors to the show commented that Nova Scotia Tourism had a marvelious showing at the event. As visitors entered the main doors of the show they could not miss the Taste of Nova Scotia sign hanging well above the displays of the presenters; welcoming them to savor the flavour of this spectactular province of ours. The two young members of the 78 Highlanders who serve at the Citadel in Halifax, were on hand to perform pipe and drum segments. From what I preceived at the show, there are a lot of positive vibes from visitors expressing their interest in the area. We can only hope that the interest will translate to an increase in visitors to the area in 2011.