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Parks Canada sites see spike in visitation
If visitation at Parks Canada sites in Cape Breton is any indication, it’s shaping up to be a banner year for tourism on the island.
With the help of the Discovery Pass program allowing for free admission to any national park site during Canada’s sesquicentennial year, by the end of July the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site saw an increase of 39 per cent in visitation over the same period last year, Kelly Deveaux, visitor experience manager for Parks Canada in Cape Breton, said in an interview.
At the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck, traffic was up 32 per cent while at the Cape Breton Highlands National Park visitation increased by 20 per cent.
“It’s been a pretty remarkable year,” Deveaux said. “We expected that it was going to be busy this year and we were right, however the increase in visitation levels have been manageable thanks to the planning and our preparations going into this year.”
Numbers released by Tourism Nova Scotia have shown that visitation in Cape Breton has been on the rise for the past few years.
To prepare for this year’s anticipated increase, Parks Canada hired additional staff including summer students, made sure that sufficient supplies and equipment were available, as well as planned for issues such as traffic management and overflow camping, Deveaux said.
“Just making sure that everything that we could do to accommodate an increase in visitation, that we were ready for,” she said.
At this point in the season there is no breakdown of the numbers in terms of where visitors are coming from or other trends, Deveaux said.
Parks Canada did anticipate seeing more local visitors who also decided to take advantage of the passes. The number of people booking reservations early has also increased.
“I think that Canadians and visitors even from beyond our borders are really answering that call and are taking the opportunity to connect with Parks Canada sites or reconnect with sites too,” Deveaux said.
Parks Canada is also planning additional improvements, Deveaux said, in terms of continued construction to roads and bridges.
“We do expect the increased traffic levels to continue for quite some time so we’re just reminding visitors about hiking in non-peak hours, taking advantage of the shoulder season,” she said.
If someone is looking to avoid busier times and larger crowds, Parks Canada is also suggesting they consider taking advantage of “hidden gems” or lesser known areas such as Broad Cove Mountain Trail or the Lighthouse Trail in Louisbourg.
Mary Tulle of Destination Cape Breton noted the most recent accommodations figures available from Tourism Nova Scotia are from May and they showed Cape Breton room
nights sold up by 14 per cent year-to-date.
In looking at her agency’s website statistics, Tulle said they have seen great growth from the markets targeted, including Ontario and Quebec and New England. Booking of golf packages are up by 25 per
cent this year, she added.
As well, the island is continuing to experience a bump from the amount of attention the Cape Breton if Donald Trump Wins website developed by Rob Calabrese. The relatively strong Canadian dollar is likely also keeping many Canadians
at home.
“Pretty much everyone we’re speaking to is giving positive accolades on our 2017 season,” Tulle said.
Canada 150 may be an important force in driving increased numbers, but visitors typically don’t only go to Parks
Canada locations on their trips, with other local operators also benefiting, Tulle said. The initiative is also encouraging Canadians to explore more in their own backyards, she added.