INDIAN BROOK, N.S. — Winter tourism is on the rise around the Cabot Trail and Destination Cape Breton hopes to help keep this trend going.
Five years ago, the association was researching ways to grow tourism in Cape Breton when it received a recommendation to focus on the winter months. They decided to follow the recommendation and current CEO Terry Smith said the island has since seen growth in this area.
"Last year, we had the highest licensed room rental rates ever," said Smith who has been CEO since 2019. "I don't have data for this year yet, but I am hearing this winter it's looking to be the same."
Smith said there was a 14 per cent increase in licensed room rental rates for the winter season last year, which works out to 49,000 licensed accommodation bookings around the island. He also said he heard from operators like the North Highlands Nordic ski club that they've seen an increase in traffic and have had guests from as far away as Europe and Tasmania.
Destination Cape Breton has been marketing the island as a cold-months paradise through a Winter Adventure Guide they've published for four years. Distributed mainly in the Maritimes, the guides tell people where to rent or borrow snowshoes, skies, snowmobiles and fat bikes. They also list operators offering "winter experiences" and provide three trip itineraries: one for snowmobiling, one for cross-country skiing and one for snowshoeing.
"It's meant to give a sense to people of what's out there during the winter months," Smith explained. "They think everything shuts down in the winter but that's not true. There's a lot to do in Cape Breton in the winter."
Paul and Barbara Weinberg, owners of Cabot Shores Wilderness Resort and Retreat Centre in Indian Brook, said they've noticed they're busier in the winter than they were a few years ago.
"Winter's not stopping people from wanting to get together. What we're about is trying to help people create their own adventures and retreats. That's kind of our mission. Winter is just as good a time to do it as any other time," said Paul.
They've also noticed more bookings from people who live in Cape Breton during the colder months.
"It used to be we'd get all these people from Halifax, Antigonish, Boston coming up here out of the blue to stay in the winter. Now the circle is diminished and we're getting more and more people from Sydney, Glace Bay, Baddeck, Middle River," Paul said.
"They've kind of discovered they don't have to go that far away to have these adventures. They don't have to go to the Dominican in the middle of the winter, they can stay here and have a good time in Cape Breton."
Paula Michealis from the North Highlands Nordic ski club said they've seen a five per cent increase in traffic at the trails and credits it partly to the good snowfall this year. On slow days, 20 people use the trails. On busy days they'll have 100 people and over the years they've seen more skiers from off island and overseas.
"The promotion from Destination Cape Breton has been fantastic," Michealis said. "It has helped promote the area and ... the adventure tourism market which increases our skiing (numbers)."
Paul Weinberg also thinks Destination Cape Breton's marketing, through publications like the Winter Adventure Guide, is helping boost winter tourism on the island.
"It is helping us a lot... like when they promoted our honeymoon package (in a previous publication)," said Paul who also attributes the growth trend to an increased number of people interested in winter activities.
"There's people who want to do this stuff. Couples, older folks, millennials, families are all coming to us (to book these experiences)."
The Dancing Moose Cafe Cabins and Camping Cottages owner Ton Megens isn't sure what is increasing his business during the winter months, but he's glad it's happening.
"The last couple of years you see more people for winter months, which is good during the 'dead months.' A lot of active young people who want to go snowshoeing all day and have a few beers at night," said Megens.
"And that is all right. I've had only good experiences with young people (in their 20s). I've never had any bad experiences with young kids being loud. Usually, they are the ones that keep it the cleanest."
Like Paul Weinberg, Megens thinks there's a growing interest in outdoor winter activities and the lower cost of bookings at the Dancing Moose (starting at $70 per night for some camping cottages) is helping boost his winter bookings.
The opening of Ski Cape Smokey has also helped boost winter business for a few places, including the Dancing Moose which is now opened weekends, Fridays to Sundays, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., to meet demand that comes with more traffic on the road.
Smith said Destination Cape Breton is planning to increase distribution of their Winter Adventure Guide to Ontario next year, in hopes of attracting more winter tourists to the island. With direct flights from Toronto happening year-round, Smith they're hoping to show people it's only a few hours away from the city to a winter paradise in the Cape Breton Highlands.
It's something Smith acknowledges is easier to do when there are things to do, places to stay and places to eat open during these slower months.
"We are seeing more operators that are creating events and experiences in the winter months... Places like the Gaelic College who are now doing their ceilidhs year-round (this helps us promote the island in the winter)," Smith said.
"The operators who are stepping up and making that investment, staying open, offering services, giving us something to do after 6 p.m... seeing these operators supporting this growth opportunity is very encouraging."
