Tourism in Richmond County

Over next few months, the tourism industry will be very busy with a marketing agenda for Cape Breton Island. Already the industry has begun targeting stragic locations with the intention of bring visitors to this beautiful island destination. I have just returned from representing Destination Cape Breton Association (DCBA) at the Ottawa Travel and Vacation Show at the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park on April 2nd and 3rd. The show had exhibitors from 40 countries and approximately 160 travel exhibits which gave visitors a chance to compare prices, attend information seminars and view tourism demonstrations as well as entertainment from around the world. Destination Cape Breton Association as part of the Nova Scotia Tourism contingency made a major impression on visitors looking to make travel plans for this up coming season. Visitors to the show asked a number of questions about Cape Breton Island and why the island is given the distinction of being named number one island destination in North America. Visitors were amazed to hear that the Cabot Trail is considered the number one travel route for motorcycles in the world. Destination Cape Breton Association attented the tourism show with the intention of bring Cape Breton to the centre stage of the Canadian tourism market. There were a high percentage of tourism consultants at the show from the Ontario and Quebec markets which hope will corespond in a higher number of Central Canadian visitors checking out our travel web sites. Destination Cape Breton distributed its new lure piece hosting the newest marketing information tool, the QR code. The QR code is a popular type of two dimensional barcode which brings information (in our case tourism information on the island) to the fingertips of the world by the press of a button. QR codes store up to 4,296 alphanumeric characters of text. This information can be read by an optical device with appropriate software which can range from dedicated QR code readers to mobile phones. Besides the QR code, this attractively designed post card size information piece highlights partnership packages being offered this season as well as giving the website, where visitor's questions can be answered and in return the association can obtain an accurate number of visitors checking out
the website.

Another major marketing venue that Destination Cape Breton Association will be attending to attract visitors to Cape Breton is the Saltscapes East Coast Expo. This very popular travel show for the Atlantic Provinces will take place at Exhibition Park in Halifax April 29th to May 1st. This is the 7th year that the St. Peter's Visitor Information staff will be at the Expo representing Richmond County as part of DCBA at the Saltscapes Expo. The show which will have approximately 400 unique exhibitors providing more than 100 presentations and demonstrations, offering visitors the opportunity to gain awarness of the many experiences that this spectacular part of the world has to offer its visitors. The Expo will highlight everything from the Unique Retail section to Savour the Flavour of Atlantic Canada to sample our culture, music and travel, as well as what's new with cottage and garden and healty living. The show has something of interest for everyone. Atlantic Canada is a very important tourism market as a high percentage of visitors travelling to our area come from the Atlantic Provinces.