Exit interview: A tourism champion on where N.L.'s industry needs to go next

Few industries in Newfoundland and Labrador have transformed as much as the travel and tourism business. It may be thanksto those ubiquitous and long-running TV ads, and to the growing popularity of natural wonders like icebergs, whales and hiking trails.

Cathy Duke has a front-row view of this change.

She has been chief executive officer of Destination St. John's since 2011. About to retire after a career that also included stints as the deputy minister of tourism and executive director of Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador, Duke sat down recently for a conversation with Jamie Fitzpatrick of CBC Radio's On The Go.

Here is some of the conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: [Do you agree that much has] changed over the last couple of decades?

A: I started my career in economic development. During that time, tourism was one of the sectors that was still very prominent then.When I think about tourism back then, it was what we sometimes refer to now as a cottage industry. It was very small we were talking about bed and breakfast and some maybe some boat tours and some historic sites. There were 23 different tourism development associations, and everybody was off doing their own thing. We've come such a long way [and] I think we got a lot of potential for the future.

Q:Do you think in part the world also moved a bit closer to us?Going back over 20 years, I don't think we heard the phrase "adventure tourism" that much and certainly the cruise ships were oriented our way.

A: Many years ago, we thought we needed to have what every other destination had. Along the way we realized that visitors were actually wanting what we already have, and we began to appreciate our nature, product and the value of our culture and our history. Maybe this is what we need to be putting forward.

Visitors even to this day and certainly post-pandemic, they're very much wanting what we have in Newfoundland Labrador they're really wanting the wide open spaces, being close to nature and just [a] quieter pace. Consumer behaviour has changed a lot over the last 25,30 years, but even more so since the pandemic.

WATCH | In February, we checked the mood at Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador's annual conference:

Hospitality industry is getting its groove back at annual conference in St. Johns

8 months ago

Duration 2:57

The mood is up at Hospitality Newfoundland & Labradors annual conference. Industry veterans say travel is back, and tourists and operators are spending again. We hit the trade show floor to see what the new travel landscape looks like.

Q:How in a position like yours do you measure success in that job? Are there particular numbers or indicators that you track?

A:The province does track as best it can the number of visitors coming into the province through their exit survey, which they do every so many years. And, you know, they have algorithms that extrapolate how many visitors that would be here in St. John's. Unfortunately we don't have a way to track that, but we do have a great partnership with the major hotels in the city and they do provide us numbers on a monthly basis of the number of hotel rooms sold and their occupancy so we can get a look at the trend and seeyear over year what the visitation is into the city that way. We do collect numbers on the numbers of conferences that come into the city, the number of delegates, the number of sporting events, the number of motor coach tours.

Q:What should we get better at now in the years to come? What would you list as atop priority?

A: We've done a lot of really good things in terms of government and industry are working better together. That's not something that I think was as present as as it is today, because there are lots of things that requirelong-term efforts. There are some things out there that are other destinations are experiencing. It's not just Newfoundland Labrador [facing a]labour shortage. What we really need to think more about is how do we make the tourism industry a viable, sustainable industry by expanding the season. Many years ago, July and August were the two months, but now with the experiences we have available going right to September, October, we're turning it into a five- or six-month industry.

I think we really need to think about that, like, how do we make it an all-season experience for the province?

WATCH | In 2021, we reported on how tour boat operators were changing tack because of the COVID-19 pandemic:

How tour boat operators are changing tack to survive the post-pandemic era

3 years ago

Duration 2:25

Henrike Wilhelm reports on why it may take several years for N.L. tourism operators to return to former levels

Q: Certainly if you're looking at sort of alternative months to the height of summer, we probably do have room for people. But in the big picture, do we have the capacity? Especially in rural areas, the accommodations will be limited. Everyone talks about how you can't rent a car in St. John's during the summer unless you book way ahead. So are there some ways in which we might have maxed out our potential?

A:There are lots of other options in terms of accommodations. We're working with with government now to have all these properties that are listed through Airbnb and so on, [to] get them licensed and so on. But there's lots of that out there.

I think with motor coaches particularly, I'd love to see a major hotel resort in the Gros Mornearea. That's a real bottleneck for us. We can't sell more motor coach tours. Everybody wants to go to Gros Morne. Focusing on building the capacity variance in your largest urban centre does help all the other regions of the province. So I would like to see even more things happening in the greater St. John's area, because I think that would that would benefit other other areas of the province.

One of the thingsthat our tour operators have beenconcerned with in rural Newfoundland is that they bring a tour there at a certain point in late September,then some of the historic sites or the museums or other attractions are closed. But on the other hand, [the attractions] find it hard to stay open because we're not getting enough business to cover their costs or their summer students have left and gone back to school or university. They can't get labour.

So it's one of those things that's not a short-term solution. It's something that we really need to work at over the longer term and and it is a supply and demand issue. That kind of works itself over time if you're heading in the right direction and building your strengths, and doing it in that way.

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