EAST HANTS: Discussions that have led to the province’s $18.2 million tourism restart package began months ago, the Minister of Inclusive Economic Growth and Tourism said in announcing it on June 15.
Labi Kousoulis announced that N.S. will provide operators with new grant programs and marketing support as well as offering tourists more outdoor public attractions and free admission to provincial museums.
He was asked by The Laker News to detail the process involved in coming to the restart package. Tourism operators, like those throughout East Hants, can apply for the funding.
“We’ve been having ongoing discussions,” he said. “It started months ago on how we would restart our tourism sector after more vaccines were rolled out, after we were opening up more to the rest of Canada.
Kousoulis said it did take time to put the package together.
‘We also wanted to make sure many people felt their voices were being heard,” he said. ‘We didn’t want to provide a solution. Our operators know what’s best for their industry.”
Video editing by Dagley Media
Tourism operators were communicating to the province frequently their concerns, said Kousoulis.
“A big part of the communication I was hearing was if we did a voucher program, they wouldn’t get one person to visit their motel with a voucher,” he said. “I heard that from many operators
“I also heard from other operators that were smaller and felt the bigger operators might, if it was an application-based process, draw most of the money.”
He said the push to operators was because they felt it could be best directed to the needs.
The Tourism Accommodations Restart Customer Attraction Program will help registered tourism accommodations develop and implement tailored marketing activities to encourage overnight stays. Eligible operators will receive a grant of $1,000 per room for the first 10 rooms and $500 per room for each additional room.
The Small Tourism Operators Restart Program will offer a one-time grant payment of $5,000 to help tourism businesses that were affected by COVID-19 restrictions but were not eligible for earlier provincial programs. The grant will help operators with advertising and other restart expenses such as purchasing personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies.
The province will invest an additional $3 million this year in its marketing campaigns, designed to attract visitors through television advertising, videos, radio spots, social media, billboards, display ads and search marketing tactics.
The Atlantic Canada campaign, called Do More, launched today, June 15.
Investments will also be made to attract the public to communities across the province.
Visitors will enjoy free admission to the 28 sites included in the Nova Scotia Museum system and the two sites of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in July and August. The province will also work with community organizations to offer outdoor public events that feature local artists and diverse cultural activities. Additional Resources:
More information on tourism support: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/support/#support-for-business