Quote:
Originally Posted by whatnext
|
New Brunswick has some of the worst tourism marketing among provinces in the Maritimes, and has three airports that require a lot more investment. Our tourism commercials are not that interesting or captivating. There's a lot of room for improvement, but thankfully we've had a change in government, so hopefully the Holt government will fundamentally improve the
Picture Province's approach to tourism, and be willing to invest in the solutions that are needed to make it happen. NB doesn't just need a better marketing approach, it needs better tourism and transportation infrastructure... and especially needs better flight options.
Under the Higgs government, NB wasted a lot of effort and resources on
aimless, fruitless, and lavish trips to Europe by our tourism minister and
his very unpopular, nepotistic pick for deputy tourism minister. It's insane to me that the Higgs government spent all that money on trips to Europe without a single transatlantic route to New Brunswick to show for it.
New Brunswick is one of the most scenic provinces in Canada, and Francophone New Brunswick could be an especially interesting option for French speaking europeans looking to visit French Canada and Atlantic Canada in the same trip.
New Brunswick not only need a better tourism marketing strategy, it needs to get aggressive about getting some direct-transatlantic routes, even if that means spending money to subsidize flights. There's multiple transatlantic routes that could work for Moncton on a regular basis, as well as room for semi frequent/ seasonal flights between Fredericton and Europe & Saint John and Europe, and there's many flights. There's also a need for more routes between NB airports and larger Canadian airports, routes which also deserve subsidization to make travel to and from Atlantic Canada more accessible and affordable.
It would be interesting to see NB have connections to some less gargantuan European locations, like the ones on this map, or other places in the south of France, Spain, Portugal and elsewhere in Europe. Flights between the Maritimes and Europe are pretty comparable in distance to current flights operating between the Maritimes and Western Canada. I'm sure a lot of maritimers would also like to take European vacations instead of American vacations... the market exists both ways.
Lastly, the Maritime provinces need to invest in more far more affordable, far more accessible train and bus options. The lack of these options is both an issue for interprovincial tourism, but also international tourism. The VIA "Ocean" train line is expensive and inconveniently scheduled, and there's no longer a bus route operating between the Maritimes and Montreal. I think many europeans would be happy to fly into Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, or PEI, and then take a train or bus onwards to Montreal, Toronto, or wherever. There should be far more synergy between flights into the maritimes and bus/train routes onwards to Central Canada. Trains are very expensive, I get that, but not having better bus service between Atlantic Canada and Central Canada is pretty inexcusable!
Prev
Linear Mode
