Digby ferry to have Nova Scotia tourism rep on board this week
A tourism kiosk on the Princess of Acadia ferry that runs between Digby, N.S. and Saint John, N.B. will once again have a Nova Scotia representative on board the vessel later this week.
The ferry usually sails between the provinces with two tourism reps during the busiest parts of the season. Both reps are typically on hand to help answer questions about the province and provide people with promotional materials.
Currently, there are no reps on board and it's unclear how long the ferry has gone without them.
Their absence didn't please Phyllis S. Inman, a tourist visiting from Ottawa, who expressed her displeasure in a letter to the editor in Friday's Chronicle Herald. She wrote she was unable to get a brochure for Nova Scotia wineries and a map of the province.
"What a missed opportunity for Nova Scotia tourism. This province has so much to see and do and yet the marketing and selling of Nova Scotia is so underwhelming," she wrote.
Efforts made by CBC News to contact Inman were unsuccessful.
'Nova Scotia is vitally important to the service'
Not having reps on board is an issue of timing, said Don Cormier, vice president of operations for Bay Ferries — the company that runs the Princess of Acadia.
The service is usually provided with a representative from one of Nova Scotia's visitor information centres. Bay Ferries and the province have now reached a partnership that will see the position staffed by a Bay Ferries staffer.
"We've worked out an arrangement with [the province] where we would actually staff the visitor information centre for them this operating season," Cormier told CBC News.
Cormier said staff are currently undergoing training for the position, for which shifts will be scheduled later this week.
He said Bay Ferries has always placed an emphasis on marketing and promoting the ferry's destinations.
"We absolutely recognize the importance of marketing and promoting the destination and Nova Scotia is vitally important to the service," said Cormier.
