Tourism, beer and reopening the province
Premier Andrew Furey and cabinet ministers visit Quidi Vidi Brewery to celebrate upcoming tourism season
Premier Andrew Furey learned how to properly pour an Iceberg beer from the tap at the Quidi Vidi Brewery in St. John’s Friday when he visited as a way of celebrating the reopening of the province to non-residents come July 1, and the start of the all-important tourism season.
Justin Fong, sales and marketing director at Quidi Vidi Brewery, said the phone has not stopped ringing since the province announced its reopening plan on Wednesday.
“I can’t even tell you how busy the last two days have been,” Fong said. “Everyone we deal with. We have such a big following in the outport communities, the tourism sector in Newfoundland and Labrador, and everyone is just so pumped right now. It’s been the happiest I’ve been in probably 16 months now.”
The brewery is expanding with a large deck and will continue some methods of business they picked up during the pandemic to help them stay afloat, like home deliveries on Fridays and taking online orders.
“We are still doing home delivery every Friday and that’s been a big part of business,” Fong said. “We are delivering to hotels, to people who are isolating. We will continue to offer that service.
“We’ve had a good eight months. The beer industry has been doing pretty well overall, but we really hurt last summer. July and August last year, usually our two busiest months of the year, we were down a considerable amount, and we are so happy we are opening back up because we think we are going to have the summer we should expect to have in the beer industry in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
The province’s reopening plan will see travel and recreational activities gradually open up over the summer, with an eventual end to the requirement of self-isolation. The transition to the threestep plan begins with a transition period from June 15 to July 1, when the province expects 75 per cent of eligible residents will have at least one shot of vaccine that has been given at least two weeks to kick in.
On July 1 the controversial travel ban on recreational travel to the province by non-residents will be lifted. Fully vaccinated Canadians will not have to get tested, or self-isolate. Partially vaccinated Canadians must present a COVID-19 PCR test result administered within three days of their departure date, or selfisolate following arrival until the receipt of a negative test result. Unvaccinated Canadians will still have to self-isolate for 14 days after arrival.
GETTING READY
There was an air of excitement at the brewery on Friday, with workers busy outside constructing a large deck, and activity inside the building. Fong showed Furey how to properly pour a beer from the taps behind the bar, and talked about their various products.
“We are here to celebrate the opening of the tourism season as we emerge from the pandemic,” Furey said. “People getting ready, the expansion you see behind you, is the kind of enthusiasm we want to see going into July and beyond, because we have such an incredible (tourism) product here across the province and we want to celebrate it.
“We need to reopen the province, albeit in a safe and responsible way. I’m sure you’ll see employment numbers change as we embark on a new, different summer. This (reopening) plan was built on science and evidence, and as we’ve shown, no matter what is happening in the province, including an election, we will take the definitive actions required should the evidence change.”
Tourism Minster Steve Crocker said people in the tourism industry have told him they are pleased with what they saw in the recent provincial budget.
In it, the government set aside $30 million for a new tourism and hospitality support program to support sectors deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and another $13 million for tourism marketing.
“They are seeing real results of this already,” Crocker said. “Our reopening plan is having an effect. People are booking, people are coming home. This industry employs about 20,000 people directly. This will be a good summer, not our best summer, but a step forward to a great 2022.”
ANTICIPATING TOURISTS
At the Quidi Vidi Village Plantation, business adviser and facility co-ordinator Melissa Tarrant said businesses in the facility are excited to soon see tourists coming through again. Before the pandemic, between 400 to 500 people visited the plantation each day.
The plantation is a craftbased business incubator and boutique shop.
“We have 10 small businesses that are located in Quidi Vidi Plantation and everyone is thrilled for the reopening,” Tarrant said. “Tourism plays a big part in the customer base here and it is going to make a big difference having people back in this building and welcoming people back to Quidi Vidi Village.”
Beth Howley, who owns Angoraborealis, moved into the plantation building last fall. She turns Angora rabbit hair into wool and knitted products.
“I clip fur from my Angora rabbits, collect it in a basket and spin it,” she said. “I dye it in different weights and I knit, specifically shawls because it’s really expensive, it’s high end. I like to, my thought is, now maybe it’s just my ego, but I’d like to produce heirlooms, things that can be passed on, maybe wedding shawls, baby blankets.
“I haven’t done this without the pandemic. I moved into the plantation in October, so I haven’t experienced full tourism, but I’m excited to.”
Jennifer Walsh owns Stained Glass Creations and on Friday she was busy working on a free-hanging panel of glass pieces and amazing colours.
“I’m very excited to have people coming through again,” she said. “I like to talk to people about stained glass and my hanging panels.”