Why 2022 is shaping up to be a ‘boom’ year in Tourism

What do you do when you’ve been locked down, restricted in your movements, and told to ‘stay the blazes home’ for a full two years?

You got it - we knee jerk, we yearn for experiences, and we start booking.

AllNovaScotia reported in mid-February that travel agents were getting ‘slammed’ as the early and the brave looked to lock in all inclusive deals in March break and the spring.

Closer to home, we can likely expect a similar uptick in domestic travel and tourism.

Sure, we’ll want to get out there as restrictions ease, but if there’s been a silver lining to the pandemic’s tourism impact, it’s been increased attention to rural and small-town destinations as a chance to escape crowds and spend more time in the great outdoors. There was once criticism of our tourism infrastructure in Nova Scotia, but somehow less traveled, pristine, and untouched has new meaning.

The pandemic has presented us all with a great chance to “discover where you’re from” and focus on the other things that make travel worthwhile. The other factor - people want to make up for lost time (yeah, like the past two years). Plus, money we didn’t put into home renovations, gardening and new hobbies, tends to burn a hole in your pocket. Get ready for some increased domestic spending.

While a full tourism recovery is still years away, smart operators will train their guns on the local regional market, as they have done for the past several years.

International travel will likely be hampered by restrictions, extra costs, or even war. China is reportedly unlikely to reopen its borders in 2022, as it continues its zero-COVID policy. A number of South East Asian countries are expected to follow suit.

A new reality where you can’t get on a plane, train, or ferry boat without being scanned as safe is the new reality, and travellers worldwide will increasingly be drawn to stable environments that won’t leave them stranded, sick, exposed or quarantined, like Canada..

While Canada becomes top-of-mind as travellers around the world seek safe and stunning destinations, we have our own little piece of paradise - Canada’s Ocean Playground. Our vaccination rates are among the world’s and our country’s highest. Even CNN took notice of our ‘Atlantic Canada bubble’ during the height of the global outbreak.

I have been surprised by just how incredible, unique, beautiful and underrated our province is. Like many of you, I once felt like the further away an experience is from home, the more valuable it must be. We’ve all learned the opposite is true - that we have many local equivalents to global wonders. I mean, have you ever been to Gypsum Mine Lake? The One Hundred Wild Islands? Cape Split, overlooking the Bay of Fundy?

We can do multi-day outdoor adventures, tour food/ wine/ beer/ cider trails, explore history, drive epic roadways or just take in the majesty of the sea. We offer such diverse experiences, accessible nature, striking vistas, and renowned Maritime hospitality.

While new ‘immigrants’ have flocked here from across Canada and around the world, for cheaper housing stock, remote work opportunities, and a little slower pace, their journeys will inspire more travellers - friends, family, and relatives - to sample the East Coast Lifestyle and do it all in Nova Scotia.

Have you booked your space yet?