Business owners are welcoming Come Home Year plans as a way to help build the economy after two very difficult years.

The province is throwing open the doors this summer to first-time visitors, ex-pats and people with roots in Newfoundland and Labrador to celebrate all the things that make this province great.

Not only is it a time to reunite with loved ones, but business owners hope it will help boost the economy.

Derrick Costello of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in St. John’s can’t wait.

He calls the Come Home Year idea a breath of fresh air for local business after two very difficult years.

Bookings on the Marine Atlantic ferry for the summer months are already more than double that in 2019 before COVID struck.