Cape Breton Aboard Floating Fair

A tourism delegation from Cape Breton is completing plans for participating in Canada's largest tourism industry promotion in the United States this year: a floating travel fair aboard Bay Ferries' high-speed catamaran, the Cat. The promotion takes place May 14-16 in Boston.

The Cape Breton participants will be among more than 160 tourism industry and trade representatives from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The Cat will dock next to the USS Constitution at the Charlestown navy yard at Boston National Historical Park. Organizers of the promotion expect more than 15,000 Bostonians will visit the event during the weekend.

Participants from Cape Breton include: Keltic Lodge Resort, Masterpiece Tours, Tourism Cape Breton, North Star Inn, Bird Island Boat Tours, G & L Adventures, Cheticamp Tourist Association, Fabulous Foursome, Gaelic College, Celtic Colours International Festival, Inverary Inn, and Nova Scotia Highland Village. The Taste of Nova Scotia program, Golf Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Adventure Tourism Association will also travel with the Cat.

"We've had an overwhelming response from Nova Scotia's tourism industry enthused to participate in this promotion. It is sold out," said Doug Fawthrop, chair of the Nova Scotia Tourism Partnership Council. "The positive response has allowed us to expand the event to a multi-faceted promotion that includes all key tourism motivators for New Englanders: music, animation, history, culture and nature-based tourism."

Bostonians are invited to Climb Aboard Canada's Biggest Cat. Visitors will tour the Cat and spend time meeting with Cape Breton operators in a travel fair on the ship's car deck. Dockside, visitors will be entertained with an audio-visual presentation and a showcase of music and entertainment featuring Nova Scotia musicians.

Actors in period costumes from Halifax Citadel National Historic Site, Fortress of Louisbourg and Port Royal will demonstrate Nova Scotia's claim of having the best living history in Canada. They will be joined by Acadian dancers from the Yarmouth area, traditional rug-hookers from Cheticamp, an Anne of Green Gables actor, and three members of the RCMP.

Almost one million pieces of literature, dozens of display booths, flags and banners will be packed aboard the Cat in Yarmouth on May 12. The promotion will leave for Boston the next day. Premier Russell MacLellan, Manning MacDonald, Minister of Economic Development and Tourism, and Bay Ferries president Mitchell MacLean will host a business cruise May 14 on Boston's harbour. This special sailing of the Cat offers participants opportunities to meet with more than 300 guests from a cross-section of New England's private sector, travel-trade industry and travel media.

"Together with our tourism partners, we've taken enormous steps forward in growing our local industry. In fact, the results have been record-breaking," said Premier MacLellan. "Our participation in the Cat promotion is sure to bring us the kind of attention we want to better last year's tourism revenues".

"Nova Scotia's tourism industry has earned a reputation for outstanding promotions that capture attention and increase our awareness in key markets," said Mr. MacDonald. "New England is the province's most important U.S. market and we look forward to great results from the Cat promotion."

Partners in the promotion are Nova Scotia and Bay Ferries, the Canadian Tourism Commission, and the Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership, as well as Nova Scotia Celebrate Our Music Program, Prince Edward Island and Enterprise Cape Breton Corp.

The Nova Scotia tourism industry, which topped $1.1 billion in revenues last year, employs more than 33,000 Nova Scotians with a payroll of about $430 million.