Newfoundland and Labrador Product Development Strategy

- 206 -" Some have been long-held family properties and may be candidates for divestiture," The current climate however may not be conducive to investment, given the aboriginalland claims being pursued; at the same time, there could be opportunities for partnering,and" A barrier in the past has been the inability of outfitters to cater to packages of daysinstead of weeks.4) Adventure CruisingWe believe there is considerable potential for growth of a Labrador coastal cruising product.Adventure cruise ships have been travelling the coast over the past few years. Mostly, they havebeen 100 – 120 metre vessels with around 100 passengers; either crossing from Greenland on the“Northern Circle Route” or coming from southern home ports via Newfoundland.In the Summer, 2004, for example, five visits are currently scheduled for Red Bay, by TravelDynamics and Quark Expeditions. On the north coast, four visits are scheduled into Nain, by LeCompagnie des Iles du Ponant out of Saint Pierre Miquelon as well as by Travel Dynamics (twovisits) and Clipper Cruise Line. Other current offerings include a Gulf of St. Lawrence ecocruisewith Ecomertours which extends north to Red Bay.90% of the Labrador coast is not charted to modern standards. This is a challenge but it couldalso represent an opportunity, where local people have the knowledge and experience to guideships.The new federal safety regulations mean that, effective 2005, a foreign ship will need to clearCanada Customs before discharging passengers in Canada; therefore, a ship bound for Hebron orNain from Greenland, for example, could not visit before being cleared by a Customs Officer(this would mean having to fly an officer to the site, setting up a seasonal Customs office on thecoast, or some other solution). No cost-effective solution has been identified to date.The Northern Ranger, while it has brought many tourists up the coast over the years, is afreighter with limited accommodations capacity – for this and other reasons, it is not consideredto be the right boat for Labrador coastal cruising.The objective of the Newfoundland and Labrador Cruise Authority is to have an adventurecruising vessel home-ported in the Province.To this point, there has been some success in on-shore catering for cruise ship passengers. InBattle Harbour, for example, there have been shore programs delivered by the Battle HarbourTrust. In Hopedale, representatives of the Heritage Society have arranged a community walkingtour and reception and in Rigolet, the locals have arranged a community hall reception andsquare dancing for passengers on the Le Levant (which has proven to be a popular feature).THE ECONOMIC PLANNING GROUP of Canada Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism Product DevelopmentD. W. Knight Associates Strategy and Accommodation Needs Study