A representative of a non-profit tourism promotion company in the province sees the plan to reopen travel to St. Pierre-Miquelon as a ‘massive’ positive step for the Fortune area.
Executive Director of Legendary Coasts Chris Sheppard, has been leading the charge to get the border open so tourism dollars can flow once again between the two places.
He says it isn’t just about the economy and he points to the family connections between the two locations. Sheppard says he knows of a St. Pierre man who hasn’t been able to see his children for a year and a half because his former partner is living in Fortune with their kids.
Sheppard tells VOCM News that tourism in St. Pierre-Miquelon dropped last summer by 99.5 per cent because the vast majority of travellers enter the islands through Newfoundland and Labrador.
He says when restrictions ease on August 9 it will represent a time for tourism operators to rebuild what they have lost.
Sheppard indicates that operators in Burin are hurting very much. He says the majority of visitors to the area, are on route to the French islands but will stop along the way and stay a night or two. Sheppard says provincially, St. Pierre-Miquelon is one of the key tourism drivers both for those entering leaving NL.
