By Eric Bourque
THE VANGUARD
NovaNewsNow.com
Last December, in response to the news that Yarmouth would have no ferry in 2010, Rodd Hotels and Resorts – operators of the Grand Hotel and Colony Harbour Inn – issued a statement in which Ian Hurst, the Rodd chain’s president and CEO, stressed the importance of the ferry, describing the traffic generated by the ship in the Yarmouth area as “oxygen.”
Now, over eight months after using that word to underscore the seriousness of Yarmouth having no ferry this summer, Hurst says the analogy he used back then is still applicable.
“The ferry service was our oxygen,” he said last week. “I used that expression because it’s very graphic and people understand when you cut oxygen off, things start to die and we have seen businesses close since then.”
As for the Rodd properties themselves, he said the company re-forecasted what it anticipated in 2010 in light of the ferry cancellation and the company’s revised projections have turned out to be on the mark.
“We projected quite a severe drop-off and that’s basically what’s occurring,” Hurst said. “We’re seeing about a 30 to 40 per cent drop in revenues, which is 100 per cent ferry-related.”
The province recently released numbers showing tourism is up in Nova Scotia (the tourism minister saying the season was off to a “good start”), but Hurst says Yarmouth is a different story.
As for those who figured tourists would still make their way to Yarmouth by taking the ferry to Digby and driving down here, Hurst says this didn’t happen.
Given the location of the Rodd properties in Yarmouth and their close working relationship with Bay Ferries, Hurst acknowledges that the Grand and Colony were hit particularly hard by the loss of the ferry.
“If you’re out on the periphery and not quite in the bull’s eye, you might not have felt it as much, but this was the biggest part of our market,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Grand’s dinner theatre, which wrapped up over the weekend, said they had a good season, even without the ferry.
“This year we did have a few tourists, I’m not saying we didn’t,” said Donna Morton, “but the majority was the locals…That’s what it’s always really been.”
While the support from local people this year was “overwhelming,” she says they “definitely” want the ferry back.
On the subject of ferry service and whether Yarmouth will have a vessel for 2011, Hurst says he appreciates the efforts of everyone trying to make it happen.
“I know that Mayor Mooney and others are working hard on this,” he said. “I know they’re optimistic and they really feel they’ve got some credible players at the table and that gives us reason for optimism.”
