A3

By James Mallory

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

Higher than normal rainfall amounts for the Chaleur region this summer have had a negative impact on tourism, according to some accommodation operators.

Enlarge Photo

James Mallory/Northern Light Photo

Susan Carlisle of Barrie Ontario (left) received some information about the Bathurst area during her family's stop at the Visitor's Information Centre last Thursday. Speaking with Mrs. Carlisle is VIC employee Colette Vanbuskirk.

"With the rain, tenting is not good. We had some tents but not as many as usual because of the rain," said Jacques Aube, owner of Malybel Camping in Beresford.

Rosanna LeBlanc, manager of Camping Hache in Nigadoo, said there were fewer tenters this summer but she said there were plenty of visitors in recreational vehicles.

"We have more RV's than tents," she said. "It was very good for RV's."

Mr. Aube agrees that the number of RV's this summer compensated for the lack of tenters. He said added that most of the RV's were from New Brunswick and southeast Quebec.

"We've had more and more from Miramichi, further down... and a lot of people came this year from Gaspesie," he noted.

Mrs. LeBlanc believes high gas prices may have influenced people to stay closer to home and that's why her campground has seen a good flow of local customers.

"There was a lot of local people not traveling because of the gas so they stay around here," she said.

"We didn't have much tourists but the local people were here...We had a few people from Quebec and Ontario but we didn't have a lot from the United States. We had some people who come every year from Quebec. They have relatives from around here so sometimes they stay for a week."

Charles Roy, owner of the Motel L'Acadian in Petit-Rocher, said the number of tourists coming to the area was less than usual but he think high gas prices are not the reason, especially for those staying in motels or hotels.

"Everybody talks about that and I've got my own ideas about that. It's not the price but the people who talk about it," he said with a laugh.

"If your car is doing 20 miles a gallon, it's only going to cost you $30 more to come down to New Brunswick if you take off from Montreal. So are you going to cancel your vacation for $30? I don't think so. But if everybody talks about the gas being this and the gas being that, that didn't give a good impression on the people. For sure, if you have a big Winnebago or big trailer that would make a bigger difference but for a motel, I don't think that was a big thing."

Mr. Roy said the Chaleur region relies on tourism from Quebec but he found there were fewer visitors from that province due to weather and other events.

"One factor the people didn't stay longer was the temperature that we had this summer. Another factor was the 400th anniversary celebration in Quebec City and that, I find, keeps lots of people from coming down to this area. I think we lost a few tourists from that and even people from down here were going to see that."

Adam DeGrace, general manager of Danny's Inn and Conference Centre in Beresford, said a few months ago, many in the accommodation industry were fearful tourism would suffer from high fuel prices but most of those fears have since been eased.

"We more or less tapped into the same market as last year," he said noting Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick. "It was a positive summer although...at the start of the season we were a little bit skeptical because of the price and gas and the value of the dollar. When you're looking at it from a tourism standpoint and management standpoint, it's scary to think of the possibility of people not traveling but I think this summer proves otherwise, that people will still travel."

He said people come for various reasons such as touring through New Brunswick, stopping to eat at restaurants, to golf, enjoy the beaches and for business.

"For the hotels in the area, I think they're running about three percent over the last year and talking with them I think a lot of it has to do with commercial travelers as far as drilling and whatnot coming to the area...But we still see a lot of tourists coming through and the season is still not quite done."

Marie Lise Boudreau, director of the spa at L'Auberge de la Vallee in Bathurst, was also pleased with the business received this summer. She said this is thanks to local support.

"It's not tourists outside of New Brunswick. We've had a few from Quebec but not much this year. We are really busy with people around like Moncton and Halifax that come here."

"This summer we were really busy. There was no problem with that," she said noting that most people stay a day or two.

Dry and sunny weather actually graced the Chaleur region this past weekend and Environment Canada is predicting a normal summer the rest of the way. However, it may come too late, especially for those who enjoy camping in the great outdoors.

"The time is almost over for that. We'll probably have some (campers) but after the 15th of August, camping is going down with the school starting and everything, holiday's being done," concluded Mr. Aube.