The tourism industry in the Bay of Quinte is more than back on its feet since the province of Ontario entered stage three of reopening last Friday.
This is according to Bay of Quinte Regional Marketing Board Executive Director Dug Stevenson.
“You know, how many retailers, how many restaurants, how many businesses were, for the past year plus, wondering when they were going to be able to turn the floodgates back on. I tell you what, floodgates they are. It doesn’t take a whole lot of driving around this region right now to see we’re full.”
Thus far, Stevenson said, the rollout has been smooth and he sees a lot of optimism both from business owners and tourists alike.
Among the more interesting parts of the revival of tourism in the Bay of Quinte, he said a change in the mindset of locals towards local tourism has been marked.
“Our local residents don’t really see us as a tourist attraction. Arguably Prince Edward County, especially, our neighbours to the south. They’re one of the top destinations really in Canada now. I don’t know if it’s because of that, but for whatever reason people haven’t seen us as a tourism destination. COVID-19 has kind of shone a light on that. People are finally starting to see, oh right, look at all these amazing amenities that we have. Look at the waterfront, look at the greenspace, look at the parks. We have products now like the pop-ups in Quinte West and in Belleville. There are all sorts of reasons for people to want to come here and want to stay, so I think we’re finally seeing a shift there, so that would be the interesting thing that I’m seeing.”
According to Stevenson the Bay of Quinte averages three million visitors per year and they spend an average of $300 million per year in the region.
For anyone looking to explore the Bay of Quinte Stevenson said the tool to use is at www.BayofQuinte.com/Staycation
