Winter tourism: it’s all about snow.
Precipitation, not pandemic will determine success of Cape Breton winter tourism
MARGAREE — On a snowfilled weekend, recreational snowmobilers will make Big Intervale Fishing Lodge one of many stops along their winter tour of the Cape Breton Highlands.
A meal and conversation at the Margaree mainstay for winter tourism is often followed by cafe visits and scenic tours as the outdoor enthusiasts travel trails across northern Cape Breton.
While COVID-19-related precautions have altered business for those who serve this group and others who use the trails for hiking and winter activities, it’s a lack of snow to date that has had a greater impact.
“Snowmobiling is the biggest part of our business, but there is a lot of cross-country skiing and a lot of snowshoeing going on here,” said Ruth Schneeberger, part owner of the lodge.
“We just need some white gold, we just need some snow, and we will be all set.”
The lodge opened for the new season earlier this month and despite the lack of snow, the restaurant was busy.
“There was enough snow on the road to come in and enough snow to play around, but there’s not enough snow to go everywhere.”
When conditions are right, outdoor enthusiasts make their way down Cape Clear using a shortcut to Big Intervale as they cross over to Cheticamp. Snowmobilers can actually start that trail in Whycocomagh, which is why tourism operators in that community are wishing for snow.
“The snowmobilers were out on the weekend but it was pretty scratchy and pretty hard to get around,” said Renie Rogers, manager of Keltic Quay Cottages. “It didn’t stop them that’s for sure.”
Last weekend’s activities followed what Rogers called a "phenomenal" Christmas period that saw cottages booked solid, which is something they usually only see at New Year’s Eve.
“People said ‘we just want
to get away.’ My month of February, every weekend is booked solid.”
Visitors are mostly from Cape Breton but those from mainland Nova Scotia are also booking, particularly those who would normally travel to
New Brunswick to snowmobile.
That’s the way it has been since 2005 when Keltic Quay Cottages first opened and became one of the few places to operate during the winter months.
Pandemic precautions are a reason for increased local traffic this year but Rogers said winter tourism had been steadily rising over the last few years.
“I’m noticing now that a lot of businesses are starting to realize just how much business they can get in the winters,” she said. “It’s snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, ice fishing and that sort of thing. For some people (this year), it’s like they can’t go away and they just want a change of scenery, even if it is from Sydney to come here and spend a few nights.”
Destination Cape Breton has been promoting Cape Breton winter experiences on its social medial channels recently and is now distributing a brochure that promotes winter staycations.
“We’ve had to take a cautious approach to rolling out our winter campaign, based on the rising COVID numbers in the central zone before the holidays and the travel restrictions that have been put in place for Halifax and Hants County,” Terry Smith, the Destination Cape Breton
CEO, told the Cape Breton Post.
“Halifax is our largest market for winter. In addition, we didn’t have much snow until the storm last weekend and that impacts most winter activities."
Winter visitors have always been from Nova Scotia for the most part, he noted, but a growing interest in the island from New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had been noticed in recent years.
He’s hoping to tap into all of those markets again at some point this year.
“The province said they will be reviewing the Halifax/ Hants travel restrictions on Monday, so we’ll see if there is any change there, but we need those to lift for us to expand our marketing to that market. And eventually, we hope the Atlantic bubble will be back in place.”
“It is going to be a normal year if we have the snow,” said Schneeberger.
“We had no water in the summer in the river, so we couldn’t pick up any fishing. It’s all weather-related. If the weather is good and we have the snow business will be good. If we have no snow, there’s not much we can do.”