Tourism Nova Scotia announced visitor traffic numbers to the end of September 2018 this week and it’s not happy news for Cape Breton: licensed room nights sold between January and September this year totaled 367,000 — down 6% over 2017 — and the occupancy rate stood at 53% — downRead More

Changing of the (Tourism) Guard A spectator alerted me to this job posting on Career Beacon: It appears longtime Destination Cape Breton Association (DCBA) CEO Mary Tulle will be leaving as of 1 February 2019. Destination Cape Breton is the “official Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) for Cape Breton Island,” accordingRead More

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) will continue funding Destination Cape Breton Association (DCBA), the island’s tourism organization, to the tune of $1.9 million over the next three years. The ACOA funding will match monies raised by a room marketing levy (imposed by the island’s municipalities) to a maximum ofRead More

Double vision? I promised to ask when and how Dennis Campbell of Ambassatours Gray Line got the nod to develop the property formerly occupied by the Royal Cape Breton Yacht Club on Sydney’s harborfront and let you know what I found out. As you may recall, Campbell, whose firm operatesRead More

Inspiration Village Great news, guys! Sydney is finally going to ship a sea container to Central Canada! Okay, strictly speaking, we’re not “shipping” it. According to its press release, Destination Cape Breton Association will “transform” a sea container “into a life-size depiction of the many unforgettable experiences Cape Breton Island has toRead More

Transparency is so rare in Nova Scotia that most people recognize it only by its absence. Our region is home to a number of organizations that rely largely (if not entirely) on public money and yet are not in the least accountable to the public. To me, they’re like bigRead More

Blacksmith Grant Haverstock founded the FireHouse Ironworks in Whycocomagh, Cape Breton in 2011. FireHouse produces custom ironwork but from the beginning, the company has been more than just a working forge, as its web site explains: The forge at FireHouse Ironworks is a place for community members to gather andRead More

Thousands upon thousands of taxpayer dollars are spent annually promoting Cape Breton Island as a tourist haven with varying success. Yet it only took a few hours for a local DJ to create a website that resulted in an overwhelming number of tourist inquiries, a major spike in tourism, andRead More