Newfoundland and Labrador Product Development Strategy

- 180 -As part of the shoulder and off season strategy, it will be important to encourage both restaurantsand evening programs to operate for longer periods of time.TransportationRoadsThe province’s roads are generally in reasonable condition, however, there are segmentsrequiring urgent repairs and upgrading. The primary touring routes are of greatest concern here.Some particularly notable needs include:o Improving some bad sections of the Trans Canada Highway, notably on the AvalonPeninsulao Improving bad sections of highway 430 on the Northern PeninsulaThere is a need for pull-offs for viewing at key points along highways.Highway SignageThis topic was addressed in Section 8.Marine Atlantic Ferry ServiceAs discussed earlier in Section 3, there are some major concerns with respect to the quality of theservice provided by Marine Atlantic, both in terms of the transportation service itself and thefacilities and services provided to customers on the ferries.There are several proposals that have emerged with respect to this service:o Upgrade the fleet with faster ferries that also offer contemporary standards of guestfacilities and services (A high speed catamaran ferry would not be a reliable option giventhe sea conditions in the Cabot Strait.)o Increase the frequency of the Argentia service and extend the season of this service fromJune 1 to Thanksgiving (currently, in 2004 it involves three ferries a week from June 18to September 11 th and one a week from September 12 th to 30 th)o Upgrade the standard of guest facilities and customer service on board the ferries whichcurrently is below what should be a minimum standard. There are simple improvementsthat can be made, such as upgrading the quality of the bedding and towels provided in thecabins, that will start to make a difference to the overall level of customer service.o Improve the consultations between Marine Atlantic and HNL on schedules. (The ferrycompany has agreed to do this.)Suggestions have been made of the need to modify the Port Aux Basques schedule so that ferriesaren’t arriving in the middle of the night. In terms of priorities, the ferry schedules are beingdesigned for truckers first, to provide the minimum elapsed travel time from North Sydney to St.THE ECONOMIC PLANNING GROUP of Canada Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism Product DevelopmentD. W. Knight Associates Strategy and Accommodation Needs Study