Dover experiences tourism bump
DOVER — The Town of Dover might have to adopt a new town slogan soon.
That is if the expected tourism boost from “Come From Away” and the love story of Nick and Diane Marson comes to fruition.
The hit Broadway musical has begun to bring people into the Bonavista Bay community, as in the last two years the town as seen a jump as high as 38 per cent in its tourism numbers since the premiere of “Come From Away.”
As of the first week of August, Dover had seen a bump of 18 per cent over the previous year’s total. That number could be even higher, according to Mayor Tony Keats, once the town factors in its numbers for the end of August and September.
“Those are big parts of the year for us,” he said. “Word of mouth helps most of the time.
“We’ve had some exposure from ‘Come From Away.’”
Dover has always been known as the town where worlds collide. It’s where the parts of the Earth’s crust crashed into each other eons ago and its where the worlds of Nick and Diane collided in the wake of 9-11.
It’s where the two famously fell in love. Their story gained attention when they became characters in the smash Broadway production. The “You Are Here” documentary released in the fall of 2018 continued to shine a light on that story and many others.
“A lot of people come from ‘Come From Away’ and a lot of people come to see the fault,” said town clerk Yvonne Collins. “Some people have come asking to see where Nick and Diane sat.”
With this in mind, Dover has been working with the couple in an effort to showcase their story in the community with informative panels. They have some “Come From Away” material ordered for the gift shop and are looking at other ways to tell their story.
Like any small town in Newfoundland and Labrador that has an attraction to pull people in, the challenge becomes how to make them stick around the spend their money in the community.
Dover has been working with other tourism outlets in the region to promote the shoreline as a whole and get people exploring.
“We’re getting there,” Keats said. While Keats says the town was a bit late hoping on the “Come From Away” tourism boom hitting the region every summer since the musical opened, Dover is still primed to attract people in coming years.
Especially if the planned big-screen adaptation happens.
“We’re very excited for the future,” said Keats.
“Those are big parts of the year for us. Word of mouth helps most of the time. “We’ve had some exposure from ‘Come From Away.’”
Tony Keats Mayor