Alexandra community meeting scheduled
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Alexandra Community Council will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at the Alexandra Community Centre.
As is the case with municipalities across Prince Edward Island, residents of Alexandra are facing many changes under the new Municipal Government Act, which is slated to be proclaimed this fall.
The meeting will be open to the public and organizers hope many residents will attend to discuss the future of the community.
The meeting will be held at 7 p.m.
Anne Arsenault is confident the new Stompin’ Tom Centre in Skinners Pond played a significant role in boosting the overnight stays in the North Cape Coastal Drive tourism area in 2017.
The number of overnight stays in roofed accommodations and campgrounds is up all over P.E.I. this year – closing in on a million nights - with the NCCD having one of the largest spikes at a 7.1 per cent increase.
“I think it had a fairly big impact,” Arsenault said of the Stompin Tom Centre’s role. Arsenault is general manager of Tignish Initiatives, owners of the centre. She said attendance at the new attraction exceeded expectations. A prime example of that was the Spirit of Stompin’ Tom Dinner Theatre. Arsenault said they planned to do 15 shows and ended up doing 30 without exhausting the waiting list.
With many visitors taking the NCCD specifically to attend the Stompin’ Tom Centre, Arsenault is not surprised that overnight stays went up. She noted stays at Tignish Initiativesowned Tignish Heritage Inn were up significantly, and she is aware of big jumps at Waterford Cottages and Driftwood Cottages.
Another Tignish Initiativesowned property, The Wind and Reef Restaurant and Interpretative Centre at North Cape, also had a big increase in visitors, Arsenault reported.
Mitchell Rennie, manager of the North Cape Coastal Tourism Area Partnership, believes many stars aligned to give the region a major tourism boost, including the Village Musical in the Evangeline Region, Off the Wallz Splash Park in Summerside and year-round accommodations and reinvigoration of the Mill River Resort.
The impact of homecoming events like the Tyne Valley Oyster Festival and its Rock the Boat Music Festival and the Acadien Festival also cannot be overlooked, he acknowledged.
In addition, a national softball championship and a Junior Team Canada selection camp in O’Leary, as well as the visitors O’Leary generated in winning Hockeyville would help, he suggested.
In West Point, Scott Smith, manager of the West Point Lighthouse Inn, reported only nine rooms went unsold for the entire month of August, and room nights were strong in September.
“So, to say this was a banner year would be an understatement,” Smith said.
John Martin, owner of P.E.I. Coastal Tours and Experiences, said that while business was good he estimated close to 80 per cent of his clients returned to accommodations outside of the region after participating in Shellfish Foraging or Lobster on the Beach experiences.
He said he is interested in working with local accommodation providers to offer packages next year and he is considering adding an accommodation option to his business.
Janet Ogilvie, who runs Green Gable Alpacas ranch in Birch Hill, enjoyed a “really good season.” She suspects the Canada 150 celebrations and increased marketing helped. From talking with her visitors she determined more of them than ever before were staying in the area. If they enquired about local accommodations, she made suggestions.
“There’s lots here,” she said. to see and do