CAPE BRETON Baddeck cracks Expedia list
Community ranks No. 4 ‘friendliest city and town’ in Canada: travel site
BADDECK — Mention Baddeck to travellers and most will respond favourably about visiting the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, playing a round at the Bell Bay Golf Club, taking in the scenic views of the Kidston Landing lighthouse or using the village as a base for travels around the Cabot Trail.
According to Expedia.ca travel reviews, many visitors have also remarked on the overall friendly nature of Baddeck residents.
The travel website picked up on that latter characteristic for its most recent national survey, ranking the Victoria County village fourth on a list of the top 20 friendliest Canadian towns and cities for 2021, citing it simply as “an East Coast escape on Cape Breton Island.”
Expedia’s public relations manager Mary Zajac said in an email that the poll was “based on destinations with the highest percentage of positive traveller reviews, mentioning words like ‘friendly, friendliest, amiable.’
“While travel (currently) remains restricted across much of the country, depending where you live and whenever ready to explore again, the intention in sharing is to keep Canadians inspired and dreaming of future possibilities,” she added.
Cathy Harvey, longtime real estate broker and owner of Harvey Realities Ltd., feels the recognition is “wonderful.”
“The people here are always very friendly,” Harvey said. “We always have been because we’re a community based on tourism. That’s how we survive; we love seeing the tourists.”
Numerous travel reviews of the community found at Expedia.ca tend to agree with Harvey’s assessment, including:
• “Charming small town, very gracious and helpful locals.”
• “Absolutely beautiful place to visit. Friendly people. Good restaurants.”
• “Quaint little place and is perfect as a base to explore Cape Breton.”
The community’s welcoming nature goes back generations, said Victoria County Warden Bruce Morrison, noting the initial arrival of inventor Alexander Graham Bell and his family in the late 1800s to set up a summer retreat in Baddeck — where he found acceptance among the locals and later settled at their estate at Beinn Bhreagh.
“It’s almost a cultural and traditional way in which this community treats people,” Morrison said. “We’re very proud, and I think we exhibit that when we welcome people whether you’re a visitor or coming to stay as a full-time resident.”
Expedia’s poll also selected four other Atlantic Canadian communities among the top 20 — Digby (ranked second), Saint John, N.B. (sixth), Charlottetown, P.E.I. (10th) and St. John’s, N.L. (16th).
But the survey’s top choice went to Radium Hot Springs, situated in eastern British Columbia near the Alberta border, with users describing it as “a perfect spot to experience the great outdoors, and for those that enjoy hiking, there are many trails in the area to explore.”
“In looking at searches between June and the end of the year on Expedia.ca, the theme of destinations with closer proximity to the outdoors remains true,” Zajac said. “This is a similar trend we saw last year in terms of interest to destinations where there may be more room to spread out and practice social distancing.”
While the COVID-19 pandemic means that visitors may be limited to Atlantic Canadians, especially with the April 19 reopening of the Atlantic bubble, Morrison, Harvey, as well as Victoria County Coun. Perla MacLeod, believe the community will continue to attract plenty of visitors, and hope that pandemic travel restrictions will one day loosen to allow the rest of the country to head to this eastern destination.
“We have the history, we have the (Bras d’Or) Lake and we’re always (happy) to help people who may be lost or finding out about where to go to see some island secrets,” MacLeod said.