Nova Scotia Comes Alive in 2011!

Nova Scotia Might Be Getting Help From the Sinking Dollar

1.00 USD = 1.25377 CAD

The Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia (TIANS) wound up its annual event with a promise of an injection of $2.5 million into tourism marketing. Tourism Minister Bill Dooks announced that the Nova Scotia government funding will help tourism entrepreneurs “create niche opportunities.” This includes wine tours, agri-tourism and cultural initiatives.

I agree that changing some marketing strategies is needed. In fact, it’s about time that the internet and social media was brought in because that is essential for marketing these days, from tourism to selling cars. The old ad featuring “a quaint seaside town with tourists eating lobster while a lone bagpiper wails in the distance” is great for embellishment but not for the full thrust of marketing. And even if this worked in the past you can’t keep icing the same hockey team year after year. And I think the 2008 TIANS conference has brought this home.

There have been some huge kicks in the stomach to Nova Scotia tourism: high Canadian dollar, Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative ( passports needed to return to the U.S.) and the $.140CDN litre gas prices last summer. However, things seem to have been settling down in the past few months, individual happenings that could reverse the sinking fortunes of these tourism operators.

1. Passports Aren’t so Bad: The WHTI is here to stay. In the “post-911and Mumbai world” travelers are being ever so skittish. But now that Americans are getting used to the passports this should ease things a bit. After all it’s been almost a year and we did get used to be frisked at the airport.

2. High US Dollar: The U.S. dollar is back to being $1.25 Canadian and that’s a 25% savings right there.

3. Low Gas Prices: In addition, gasoline is at a 5 year low and, although it won’t stay that low for long, it won’t skyrocket like it did this year. That was fueled by speculation and the speculators are in deflation right now.

However, the other big problem is the spreading of the tourism buck. Halifax is flush with cash because it’s a convention center and all roads lead here. This doesn’t do much for Cape Breton, Wolfville or Liverpool who rarely get any spin-off from this. The farthest people want to travel is an afternoon trip to Peggy’s Cove.

Now is the time to re-invent Nova Scotia from the “Corner Gas” of eastern Canada with it’s “made in China” gifts. We have more than that here. We just have to get it across to the Americans and Europeans.