The arrival of winter is always a magical time in Nova Scotia as the first dusting of snow transforms the maritime province’s parks, towns and cities into photogenic winter wonderlands, and locals and visitors alike look forward to a season of fun events such as February’s Nova Scotia Icewine Festival, not to forget the famously festive Christmas celebrations.
As the barometer drops our cosy bars and restaurants take on an even more welcoming aspect. However, there are still plenty of options for getting out and exploring, from snowshoeing adventures to hitting the slopes in the province’s ski areas of Ski Wentworth, the region’s largest ski area; Ben Eoin on Cape Breton Island; and Ski Martock, within easy reach of Halifax.
Here at Tourism Nova Scotia we would like to thank you for your continued support in 2019 and we look forward to continuing working with you in the year ahead. Meanwhile, here is a look at some of the latest developments in the province, which, don’t forget, is less than a six hour flight from the UK.
There’s something ‘fishy’ about Christmas and New Year in Nova Scotia…
Visitors to Nova Scotia can expect to find some maritime twists to the province’s celebrations of the holiday season as some of the community Christmas tree lighting ceremonies double as memorials to the province’s maritime past.
One great example is the Christmas at the Causeway event held at Barrington Passage on the South Shore. Heralding the start of the local lobster season as well as the coming of Christmas, the event features everything from the lighting of a giant Lobster Trap Christmas tree to fireworks, carol singers and a Parade of Lights.
This year the eye-catching lighting ceremony in Barrington has been celebrated in a new video and the event is also backed by a Facebook page.
Other holiday highlights include White Point Beach Resort’s Festival of Lights: Year of the Lobster, which this year sees a lobster pulling the lit up sleigh display. From 29th November through to 5th January White Point Beach Resort honours the year of the lobster with its crustacean sleigh, giant snow-globes, the lobster-man triplets and 10,000 twinkling stars to guide you on a lobster adventure! Check out their sneak peak video.
Lobster is also a popular meal in Nova Scotia at Christmas and for New Year celebrations, even replacing the traditional Christmas Day turkey dinner in some parts. For those of you who feel like joining in the feast, here is a tasty lobster chowder suggestion.
Meanwhile, as in previous years, the handy Local Wishlist online resource is offering visitors a great range of local gift ideas to buy, showcasing the wares of local artisans and producers.
Nova Scotia hosts more than 1.2 million visitors in Summer 2019
Nova Scotia enjoyed yet another bumper tourism period over the summer with more than 1.2 million visitors experiencing the province.
While the figure of 1,247,200 overnight visitors for the peak bookings period of June to September 2019 was slightly down on the previous year’s performance it marks a strong performance in the face of extenuating circumstances such as the advent of Hurricane Dorian and the continued impact of the grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft on airlift, and comes on the back of five years of strong growth.
“Hosting the world is something Nova Scotia does well and we had a great season despite challenging external factors,” said Geoff MacLellan, the Minister responsible for Tourism Nova Scotia, commenting on the latest figures. “I strongly believe we will continue to experience growth,” he added.
New experiences help visitors ‘drink in’ Nova Scotia’s unique history
A trio of new experiences at Halifax Citadel National Historic Site are offering visitors the chance to sample the spirits produced on-site and to learn about the history of alcohol in the British military.
The most in depth of the three, entitled The Proof is in The Barrel, begins with a tour of the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site in the company of a 78th Highlander guide before visitors engage in historic firearms training and fire a Snider-Enfield rifle. Moving on to the barrel room a professional distiller from Compass Distillers explains the process of producing Noon Gun Gin, Fort George Genever and Daily Ration Rum, the Halifax Citadel-aged spirits, before visitors are invited to help prepare, and of course taste, some samples and enjoy a distiller-led culinary pairing.
New awards cap a rewarding year for Tourism Nova Scotia
Tourism Nova Scotia’s World-Class Experience EXCELLerator Program was recognised for innovation and excellence at November’s Canadian Tourism Awards, scooping the coveted Tourism Innovation Award at the event run by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.
The ground-breaking EXCELLerator Program sees Tourism Nova Scotia work closely and strategically with a wide range of private sector players in the industry to develop new tourism experiences in a timely manner in order to attract more visitors to the province. Since its launch in 2016 the scheme has been responsible for bringing 26 new tourism experiences to market with an additional nine being currently in development with a view to launching during 2020.
November also saw the fast growing travel blog site Travel Lemming name Nova Scotia as its number one overall destination in the US and Canada in the Travel Lemming 2020 Emerging Destination Awards, as voted for by a panel of influential travel bloggers. The same panel also singled out the province as one of its Top 30 Emerging Destinations globally for 2020.
Destinations within the province have also earned some notable accolades this year. For example, Cape Breton Island was singled out as one of the top island destinations in the world by the leading travel magazines Conde Nast Traveller and Travel + Leisure.
Halifax Harbour set for a refresh
The Halifax Marriott Harbourfront on Upper Water Street began a thorough refresh of its guestrooms in November.
Set to be completed in April 2020 the programme will give a new look to the corridors and guestrooms (excluding suites) on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the property, which enjoys a prime spot on the city’s scenic waterfront, from replacing the ‘soft’ furnishings and aspects such as the artwork to redesigning the bathrooms.
As part of the works the property’s Concierge Lounge will be relocated to the Private Dining Room on the lobby level for the duration of the renovation programme.
