Battle Harbour looking for staycationers
Local travellers accounted for most of Labrador’s visitors last summer
With the weather warming up, the tourism season is just around the corner in the province. Closed borders and fears surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic had a large impact on some parts of the tourism sector last year.
Many of the major destinations in Labrador were closed last summer, including Battle Harbour. The restored 19-century fishing village on Battle Island, off the coast from Mary’s Harbour, usually does brisk business in the summer, with people coming from all over to spend a few days at the popular tourist destination.
Recently, the Battle Harbour Historic Trust announced it will open the site for the 2021 season.
Battle Harbour Historic Trust executive director Peter Bull told Saltwire Network they normally rely heavily on traffic from other provinces, especially Ontario, but they’re confident they can get enough travellers from within the province to make opening the island possible this year.
Newfoundlanders and Labradorians usually comprise about 30 per cent of their clientele, Bull said, and this year with Covid-19-related travel restrictions, they’ll need twice as many staycationers as usual.
He said bookings have been coming in, but he suspects many are anxious about travel restrictions and what the summer may bring, despite wanting to get out and travel.
“Speaking to people, there’s a lot of people with a pentup desire to travel,” he said. “They haven’t spent money on travel in a while and they’re looking for a travel experience. Battle Harbour offers that to anybody, be it in the province or from anywhere.”
They’ve planned a number of events for the summer, Bull said, including bringing in musicians, a storyteller and artisans. He said word of mouth has always been one of the ways people discover Battle Harbour, and they’re hopeful that will work in the province as well as it has outside.
Not everything was closed in Labrador last season, with most of the tourism operators that stayed open being those that cater to travellers on the Trans-labrador Highway (TLH).
Destination Labrador executive director Randy Letto said travel restrictions had a profound and negative effect on the tourism sector in Labrador, but some parts of the visitor economy weren’t as affected.
The negative impacts have been obvious, he said, including major attractions being closed, cruise ships not arriving and thousands of typical arrivals in Labrador on motorcoaches not happening. However, Letto said, some of the food, beverage and accommodation providers had a decent year simply because there were travel restrictions.
“The Trans-labrador Highway has connected the three major regions of Labrador that 10 years ago didn’t have that infrastructure,” he said. “Because last year the border was closed with Quebec, a lot of those folks had to drive east through Labrador to get to the island. As a result, there was a steady flow of traffic on the TLH and businesses that cater to that visitor economy did fairly well.”
The border closure made many people in Labrador and Newfoundland look within the province for tourism opportunities, he said, and he expects the same this year.
“I’m getting a lot more inquiries than I did any time last year from people who are thinking about, researching and trying to get answers to travel questions on getting in and out of Labrador and what is available,” he said.