Tourism forum draws enthusiastic crowd

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Marilyn Lavallée, the director of tourism for the Restigouche Regional Service Commission, said last week’s last week’s first-ever tourism symposium was an overwhelming success.

“We had a full house with 60 different tourism operators in the room,” she said.  “We were thrilled to have that kind of participation.”

The River Run Lodge in Flatlands was filled to capacity on April 17, where attendees heard from numerous tourism leaders in Restigouche and beyond.

The Tourism Restigouche-hosted event hears from seven presenters covering several topics, including a much-anticipated biking event and an ATV rally.

Crankworx’s Summer Series Sugarloaf will be part of this year’s Adrenaline Bike Festival, bringing together some of the world’s best mountain bikers to compete in a variety of disciplines.

“Tourism Restigouche will be looking at implementing its marketing strategy in the coming months and helping shine light on our operators and our region to continue to drive visitors to discover all that Restigouche has to offer. Crankworx will be a historical moment of our region with the kickoff of the event being held downtown that Friday evening,” Lavallée said.

While winter is often regarded as the main season for tourism on the north shore, summer events and activities draw thousands of people to Restigouche every year to enjoy festivals, camp, hike, or take part in sports activities.

Heron Bay Mayor Normand Pelletier, who attended the forum, said tourism growth is something he and his council continue to work on.

“We had previously been an industrial based town, but with what our area has to offer, we have to push tourism as a primary industry in our area … we have the best four seasons in the province.”

He said new tourism initiatives include the recent formation of a joint trails committee he hopes will include other local municipalities to draw more tourists. As well, he noted nearby Bois Joli will be hosting hundreds of ATV enthusiasts later this year which will add a significant bump to tourism numbers and dollars spent all over eastern Restigouche. 

“We have to get more people, more operators thinking as a group to improve our region.”

Campbellton Mayor Jean Guy Levesque said improved local pride will lead to improved visitors to the city and the region.

“To make a city vibrant, first of all, our citizens have to be present and involved, but we also have to offer tourists an array of choices and activities. We need to make our city vibrant, and that’s what we’ll be doing more and more over the next few years. What’s more, the value of tourism is immeasurable for a city like Campbellton; it’s one of our biggest economic drivers.”