| The Tourist Season at Grand-Pré |
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The Tourist Season at Grand-PréSeptember 28, 2009Grand-Pré, September 28, 2009: The tourist season ends officially at Grand-Pré National Historic Site on October 15. As the last apples ripen on the trees in the orchard, Victor Tétrault, Executive Director of the Société Promotion Grand-Pré, is analysing visitor statistics. Like other tourist sites, Grand-Pré has seen a decrease in visitors over the past decade. In 1998, the year the Société Promotion Grand-Pré was created to co-manage the historic site with Parks Canada, there were 65,115 visitors. In 2008, there were 28,516 visitors. Obviously Grand-Pré is not immune to the factors that have affected the tourist industry throughout the Maritimes: the value of the Canadian dollar, the cost of gas, the consequences of September 11th, 2001, the security regulations at the border, and above all the vanishing American tourists. Like other sites in southwestern Nova Scotia, Grand-Pré is affected by the ferry schedules in Yarmouth and Digby. The creation of the Société Promotion Grand-Pré also coincided with Parks Canada’s decision to charge entrance fees at all its parks and historic sites. Many people feel that tourists stopped coming to Grand-Pré because of the entrance fees. For generations, visitors could come and go free of charge at this site that most Acadians and residents in the Valley still refer to as “the park..” There is no doubt, for example, that there would be a substantial drop in the number of visitors at Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, if suddenly people were obliged to pay to walk their dogs or to go and see the old fortifications that form part of the Parks Canada defence network. On the other hand, one has to admit that the new Interpretation Centre, opened in 2003, constitutes an important addition to Grand-Pré and that there are not very many museums or historic sites in the world with no admission fee. Whatever the causes for the decrease in the number of visitors, Victor Tétrault says that everybody in the industry has to adapt to reality. “There’s no question that the majority of Americans who visit Grand-Pré travel by tour bus, and their numbers are still dropping,” he stated. “In September, the busiest month for tour buses, we had a 50% drop in reservations this year.”As opposed to destinations like the Halifax Citadel or Peggy’s Cove, Grand-Pré National Historic Site has not been able to profit from the cruise ship trade. It is too far away from the port of Halifax for short excursions and there is not enough demand on board to fill tour buses. “We are trying create the demand and we’re working with a tour company that has a mini-bus for about twelve passengers,” added Mr. Tétrault. “Despite the loss of tour buses this year and other factors playing against us, as of mid-September, Grand-Pré did manage to have an 3% increase in visitors compared to last year. And if we subtract the 1,258 athletes from the 2008 Acadian Games (a one-time event), we had a 10% increase this year. Our efforts in targeting the Halifax and the Valley markets were successful, especially during Acadian Days the end of July.” Mr. Tétrault said. The new play, Life in the Early Days at Grand-Pré, attracted visitors, as did the workshops and exhibits organized by the Evangeline Artists’ Cooperative. The number of school visits also increased this year. School children usually visit Grand-Pré in May and June. In 2008, up to the end of August, 2, 215 school children visited Grand-Pré. For the same period in 2009, there were 3,721 pupils. According to Mr. Tétrault, about 1,000 of these pupils were children enrolled in immersion who came to Grand-Pré on their way down to Université Sainte-Anne in the spring or who were attending immersion classes at Université Sainte-Anne in July. The other pupils came from a variety of schools located in the Valley, Truro, Bridgewater, and the Halifax-Dartmouth area. Thus far, Grand-Pré has not had any visits from Acadian school children from either Clare or Argyle. “Everyone who works in tourism has had to be creative, “ Victor Tétrault concluded. “We are continuing to identify new networks of visitors. Grand-Pré National Historic Site is a welcoming, dynamic and interesting place that is well worth visiting and revisiting.” From October 16 to May 15, the Interpretation Center welcomes groups with a reservation. For further details, please call le (902) 542-1952 or visit www.grand-pre.com For further information, please contact: Sally Ross The Société Promotion Grand-Pré is a non-profit organization representing the Acadian community that collaborates with Parks Canada to ensure the development and integrity of Grand-Pré National Historic Site.
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