Province Prepares for Visitors

Nova Scotia's travel counsellors are gearing up for another busy tourism season. This week in Dartmouth, more than 100 staff from Visitor Information Centres all over the province have gathered for a training program that will help them make visitors' vacations more enjoyable.

"These are the front-line people who work with our visitors day in and day out -- from counsellors and grounds keepers to bag pipers and rock patrollers," said Manning MacDonald, Minister of Economic Development and Tourism. "We do our best to provide a great product and to bring visitors into the province. These people have the distinct honour of inviting them in and showing our province off. They play an invaluable role in making our visitors feel welcome and we appreciate their efforts."

The session includes tours of Nova Scotia attractions, overviews of various festivals and events and exposure to new tourism and marketing resource material. The Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia is also providing staff training that will help service exceed the expectations of visitors.

Melissa MacInnis, supervisor at the Pictou and Wood Islands Visitor Information Centre (VIC), is looking forward to a busy and exciting season. "This training session is a great opportunity for counsellors to share information on the various areas of Nova Scotia. Through networking with staff from all different areas, everyone is able to be part of the full Tourism Nova Scotia team."

Nova Scotia operates VICs in Amherst, Digby, Halifax, Peggy's Cove, Pictou/Wood Islands, Port Hastings, Yarmouth, North Sydney and Portland, Maine. Halifax VICs are open year-round, with the others scheduled to open in May and June. The province also provides tourism information on ferries from New Brunswick, P.E.I. and Newfoundland.

In the first three months of 1998 travel counsellors at Halifax VICs were kept busy responding to some 18,000 information inquiries. "That's a 44 per cent increase over the same period last year," said Bob Boyd, manager of visitor information services with Tourism Nova Scotia.

"There's no limit to the types of questions visitors ask -- from information on festivals and events and fees for attractions to accommodations and places to hike. All centres carry information on the entire province," he said.

More than 580,000 visitors dropped into Nova Scotia's VICs in 1997, which was up 22 per cent from 1996. "Several factors led to the increase, including longer periods of operation," Mr. Boyd said. Nearly all visitors surveyed at VICs in 1997 found staff helpful and knowledgeable, and 20 per cent reported increasing the length of their stay in the province.

Tourism Nova Scotia conducts training sessions for staff every year. It also trains all municipal visitor information centre staff throughout Nova Scotia, provincial resort hotels and staff at Check In, the province's toll free information and reservation system.