Lookout! Newfoundland tourism rising

By Chris McGregor
Contributing editor

GANDER, NL - Over 300 delegates attended the 25th anniversary edition of Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador’s (HNL) annual conference.

Held in mid-February, the three-day conference celebrated the best of the province’s tourism, restaurant and hotel industry with sector-specific meetings, workshops, presentations and awards.

HNL started in 1983 with just three staff and little money. Today, the organization employs 14 people and has a $1.5 million annual operating budget.

In his year-end report to members, HNL president Bruce Sparkes said that in 1983-84, the province’s tourism marketing budget was just $635,000. In 2007-08, it stood at $11.2 million. A jump in provincial investment in the tourism industry has paid off, particularly over the last five years.

Visitors to Newfoundland and Labrador have increased by three per cent each year since 2003 when the province started boosting its marketing budget. In the last five years, the province has doubled its tourism budget from $6 million to almost $12 million.

"It’s time to brag and it’s time to shout and it’s time to blow our own horn," Sparkes said.

"We are ready and available for an increase in tourists."

Out-of-province visitors add about $365 million yearly to the provincial economy and employ thousands of people. Overall, the tourism industry is worth $840 million today. When HNL began in 1983, non-resident tourism brought in about $73 million yearly.

"In 1983, there were about 150 accommodation properties in Newfoundland and Labrador, including hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, cabins and cottages. Today, there are about 650," said NL minister of tourism, culture and recreation, Clyde Jackman, who attended the conference.

Sparkes said 2007 was a year to remember in Newfoundland and Labrador with accolades and improvements coming from a variety of sources.

Respected travel guide Lonely Planet named the province one of the 30 best places to visit on the planet, Air Canada added daily plane service to Gander from Halifax, Atlantica Restaurant in the Beach House Suites hotel was named Canada’s best new restaurant by enRoute magazine, a first for a NL restaurant, and Fodors travel guide singled out the province as one of seven undiscovered travel destinations.

Several publications and media outlets including Travel and Leisure magazine, the Wall Street Journal and CNN also recognized the province as a unique place to visit.

Sparkes said while there is much to celebrate, there are also areas of concern to HNL.

They include capacity and on-time performance of the ferry from Sydney, NS to Port aux Basques, ferry rate stabilization, fleet renewal and securing an essential service designation for the route.

A government proposal to increase minimum wage rates is of concern to HNL member operators. The plan calls to boost the rate to $10 by 2010, a move Sparkes called "punitive and financially onerous for our members."

HNL is also looking at presenting a business case to attract new and expanded airline service to the Island.

Banner year for awards

It was a banner year for the Newfoundland and Labrador tourism industry with national and international attention focused on the province. That success trickled down to the province’s operators who were honoured at Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador’s Lookout! Tourism Summit with the 2008 Tourism Awards. They included:

• Norman Parsons Memorial Award, presented by the Bed & Breakfast Association of Newfoundland and Labrador - Patricia Devine, Island View Hospitality Home, Clarenville;
• PRIDE Award, presented by the Bed & Breakfast Association of Newfoundland and Labrador - Mary Hayes, Cantwell House, St. John’s;
• Tourism Business of the Year Award, presented by Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador - Beach House Suites and Atlantica Restaurant, Portugal Cove;
• Corporate Partner of the Year Award, presented by Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador - Provincial Airlines Limited, St. John’s;
• Doug Wheeler Award, presented by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador - John and Peggy Fisher, owners and operators of Fishers’ Loft Inn, Port Rexton;
• Sustainable Tourism Award, presented by HNL and Parks Canada - Victorian Manor Heritage Properties, Woody Point, Gros Morne; and
• H. Clayton Sparkes Accommodator of the Year Award, presented by the Sparkes Family - Delta St. John’s Hotel and Conference Centre.