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Yvonne Jones, Opposition Labrador Affairs Critic and MHA
for Cartwright - L’Anse au Clair district, is calling on government to make
changes to Tourism and Transportation policies to correct current problems
in the tourism industry on the South Coast of Labrador.
"I have spent the past two weeks traveling the South
Coast meeting with people in the hotel, transportation and hospitality
industry in the region," said Jones. "They are telling me that business is
down 35% in most areas and more in some cases. The cause of this decline in
business is being attributed to ferry scheduling for both the Apollo and the
Bond. There is tremendous potential on the South Coast of Labrador and
people here are asking government to act so they do not have to take matters
into their own hands."
In order to rectify some of these problems, the
Liberal MHA is asking Tourism Minister Paul Shelly and Transporation and
Works Minister Tom Rideout on behalf of these people to implement several
policy changes. "The operators say the change in scheduling for the Apollo
to facilitate services on the Northern Peninsula has had a negative impact
on tourism in Labrador. They are asking government to return the Apollo to
last year’s schedule and increase the service of the Bond from two trips a
week to three."
Jones believes better planning would facilitate a more
profitable tourism season province-wide. "The tourism guide must be more
accurate and contain better information, especially about services in
Labrador. Operators continue to voice concerns to me about the quality and
breadth of information in the tourism guide as it pertains to Labrador. I am
also calling on government to implement a 100% reservation system for both
the Bond and the Apollo to allow for better planning on the part of tourism
operators."
The Liberal MHA says operators on the South Coast of
Labrador are still very upset that government allowed the Lewisporte area to
retain the $150,000 in compensation paid last year for the loss of the Bond
and no compensation was given to the Labrador Coast when government reversed
the decision earlier this year. "Now that we have experienced the negative
impacts of government’s decision to move the Bond, the people in Labrador
are demanding that government provide similar compensation for their
losses." |