By CATHY VON KINTZEL - Truro Bureau
PICTOU - Pictou County will get plenty of mileage out of a new mobile tourism advertising campaign. Two tractor-trailers, clocking 160,000 kilometres across Canada and the United States annually, will hit the road this week bearing images and slogans designed to lure people to this region.
"You've got a moving billboard and you can't get any better than that," said Kevin MacPherson, a board member who worked on the project with Rollie MacDonald, owner of King Freight Lines Ltd. Mr. MacPherson and other supporters attended an official launch of the campaign in Pictou on Monday afternoon.
The panels are digital images of the ship Hector, a Pictou icon, Hector Heritage Quay and a bagpiper printed on weather-resistant vinyl and placed on both sides of the trailers. "Visit Historic Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada," is clearly visible, as is "The Birthplace of New Scotland."
One of the trailers will make weekly trips to Arkansas.
"This is saying in one image . . . Scottish heritage and come and see it," Mr. MacPherson said. Each decorated trailer costs $8,000 to $10,000, all money donated by community organizations. Peter Lawrence of Pointe Design Group donated the graphic art.
Mr. MacDonald donated the use of two trailers initially but would like to see that number grow to at least six with more community support.
His Pictou County-based truck fleet numbers 250 and he couldn't be more pleased with how the first two projects turned out.
"I think the overall concept is great," he said in an interview after the launch.
"I had this idea in my head for a long time. "When you're going down the road and want to pass a truck, you read what's on the back door."
The trailers also bear the website address where people can get more information about Pictou County, as well as a map. The trucks' drivers will act as ambassadors, carrying pamphlets to hand out to the public and answering questions.
There is also blank space for communities to promote their events.
Other partners in the project include the Pictou Regional Development Commission, Pictou Partners and Pictou Waterfront Development.
By BRUCE ERSKINE - Business Reporter
Licensed innkeepers in Nova Scotia say they're losing millions because the province isn't cracking down on unlicensed operators.
"I've heard talk it's easily $10 million in Nova Scotia," David MacDonald, managing director of the Innkeepers Guild of Nova Scotia, said Monday in an interview.
The guild represents 400 members who operate licensed tourist accommodations in Nova Scotia, said Mr. MacDonald.
"To be licensed, you have to be inspected and meet minimum requirements," he said, noting that there is provincial legislation, the Tourist Accommodation Act and Regulations, that governs properties offering overnight accommodation.
Mr. MacDonald said the problem with the legislation is that it applies to properties that are mainly used for overnight accommodations, which provides an out for unlicensed properties whose owners argue that they only offer tourist accommodation for a small part of the year.
"The government is allowing them to get around the regulations," he said, noting that the province's auditor general said a few years ago, when Premier Rodney MacDonald was tourism minister, that all tourist accommodations in Nova Scotia should be licensed.
The guild has written to and met with government officials to express its concerns, but nothing has changed despite assurances from the then-tourism minister that the government planned to crack down on unlicensed operators, said Mr. MacDonald.
"The government has just sat on its hands. If the government acted on what it has in the way of legislation, it would minimize the problem."
Mr. MacDonald said failure to enforce the law means there is an uneven playing field in Nova Scotia since licensed operators bear inspection and insurance costs related to meeting government standards that unlicensed operators don't.
"It sure is," he said, when asked if the situation is hurting licensed operators, noting that some accommodation businesses in the province are reporting a 40 per cent drop in business.
Nicholas Carson, chairman of the Tourism Industry Association of Nova Scotia, said Monday the issue will be at the top of his list when he has his first meeting with new Tourism Minister Judy Streatch later this month or next month.
"I hope she acts more decisively than the former minister on this issue," said Mr. Carson, who is general manager of Halifax's Prince George Hotel.
Mr. Carson said it is hard to put a number on the impact of unlicensed operations on the overnight accommodation sector since no one knows exactly how many unlicensed properties there are in the province.
He said the larger issue is the damage unlicensed properties do to the province's reputation as a tourist destination since they aren't held to the same standards as licensed properties.
"The whole of Nova Scotia is tarred with the same brush," he said.
Government officials could not be reached for comment Monday, the day the province launched its $13.5-million tourism marketing campaign for 2006.
Nova Scotia's tourism sector generates almost $1.3 billion in annual revenues.