Spring is here officially and with the change of the season our weather has taken its queue and jumped from seasonal temperatures to beautiful warm t-shirt weather. What a change! Let’s hope it continues. It is no wonder that our tourism associations are busy looking to the upcoming season. Planning for the tourism season is quickly moving ahead, and with this planning Destination Cape Breton Association (DCBA) is in the process of developing its new Experience and Packaging Booklet. This beautifully done marketing booklet will be used as a marketing piece at trade shows and special events, as well as a mail out for those visitors requesting information on our area for their upcoming vacations. The booklet will also be distributed to Visitor Information Centers around Cape Breton Island, as well as the Kiosk located on the Halifax Waterfront, to be used as handouts to our visitor. The cover of the Experience & Packaging Booklet will display an iconic image of the island capturing the interest at a glance of visitors planning a trip to the island. This new marketing piece will feature beautiful photos throughout the book, showcasing the highlights of the island. This excellent advertising piece offers Cape Breton tourism operators the opportunity to develop and promote their products and experiences to a greater degree, which will be beneficial in growing their customer base and to increasing their exposure in the existing markets as well as to broaden exposure to new markets. If your package or experience meets the criteria set or the booklet, operators can join DCBA in producing this new promotional piece at a nominal fee. For more information go to www.cbisland.com or call Dan Coffin, Director of Marketing for DCBA, at 1-902-563-4636.
Destination Cape Breton Association will host Tourism Industry Day on April 19th. DCBA will do a presentation on what the Association has planned with regards to moving Cape Breton’s Tourism industry ahead for the rest of 2012. With the completion of DCBA’s marketing plan it now has a clear focus on how they will proceed this year. So make sure to mark April 19th on your calendar and discover what the great opportunities lies ahead. Tourism Industry Day will be held at the Delta Hotel in Sydney from 10am until 2pm.
Every year visitors come to the area seeking out lighthouses. It is a very important feature that draws visitors to explore our coastline. There are a number of lighthouses whose futures are in jeopardy. There may be a reprieve for these lighthouses. Under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act, community groups can apply for a heritage designation for the lighthouses through a petition to Parks Canada. Here in Richmond, Margaret Herdman, who represents two separate groups who’s intention is to preserve lighthouses and their history, has prepared petitions for Jerseyman’s Island and Marache Point lighthouses for the Isle Madame Lighthouse Preservation Committee. She is now in the process of preparing a business plan for the department, showing that the above mentioned lighthouse properties will be economically viable and that the groups will be able to maintain the properties. Herdman is also working with the friends of Isle Madame Provincial Parks, gathering the 25 required signatures for a petition to preserve the Grandique Point lighthouse in Lennox Passage. The Grandique Lighthouse property is in excellent condition with updates to the lighthouse having been done recently. There will be some work needed to the Jerseymsn’s and Marache Point lighthouses. Fundraising is continuing to make sure funds are available for this upkeep. The Minister in charge of Parks Canada must determine which nominated lighthouses should be designated on or before May 29th, 2015. Our lighthouses offer a strong connection to our rich seafaring history and are an important feature that draws visitors to our area each year. In a time when creating attractions in a particular area in order to capture the interest of visitors can be very expensive and difficult to do, it only makes sense to build on what we already have in place and one that is already a proven attraction. Also the preservation of our lighthouses will be a lasting and visual monument to our past.
Until next week, have fun exploring the beautiful scenery of Richmond.
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