News for the Hospitality Executive |
NEWFOUNDLAND
AND LABRADOR,
Atlantic
Canada, February 25, 2013 – With a booming economy and
tourism numbers
rising, the province of Newfoundland and Labrador has announced some
major
infrastructure projects. Nowhere is the growth more visible than in the
capital, St. John’s, where hotel development is expected to expand with
700 new
hotel rooms to be added. In addition, a ten-year $167 million
capital
improvement program for the St. John’s International Airport is
underway, and
the St. John’s Convention Centre will double in size by 2016.
Newfoundland and Labrador has seen steady increases in tourism throughout the province and St. John's is expected to continue this growth. A handsome city which has expanded from its colorful waterfront, St. John's is the oldest city in North America with Victorian architecture, heritage shops and a lively arts scene. Visitors can meander down quaint side streets lined with brightly-colored 19thcentury row houses or take in the views from Signal Hill which rises up over the harbour and is crowned by the 1897 Cabot Tower, built for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and commemorating the 400th anniversary of John Cabot's arrival in the new world. The city’s top cultural attraction, The Rooms, is a striking modern complex housing a museum, an art gallery with 7,000 works and historic archives. Not far from downtown, visitors can see whales and icebergs drifting off the coast and thousands of seabirds nesting. Currently there are 1,955 rooms in 14 hotels in St. John’s and within the next few years, those numbers could rise by 35 percent. These new projects – representing more than $100 million in eight hotels – are part of a larger building boom that will add $1 billion in construction to St. John’s infrastructure. At 71 percent, hotels in St. John’s have the third highest occupancy in Canada. Following the lead of the Comfort Inn Airport which has already added 42 rooms for a total of 145, two new hotels will debut this year, a third in 2014 and plans call for several more.
The past several years has also seen a rise in trendy restaurants featuring “new” Newfoundland cuisine. Once known for its fish and chips and Jigg’s dinner (the local version of corned beef and cabbage), the food scene in St. John’s is being transformed by young chefs returning home. In 2007, Atlantica was voted Canada’s “Best New Restaurant” by enRoute Magazine with Chef Jeremy Charles and sommelier/partner Jeremy Bonia at the helm. In 2011, their new venture, Raymonds was crowned “Canada’s best” by the same magazine. Later this year, Todd Perrin, a Top Chef Canada competitor will open Mallard Cottage in an 1830s wooden house – one of the oldest remaining in Newfoundland. To meet the growing demand for the destination’s meetings and conventions business, the St. John's Convention Centre is expanding and will double in size to 100,000 square feet meetings. For further information, go to Newfoundland and Labrador or call 1-800-563-NFLD. Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership This project has been made possible thru funding provided by the Atlantic Canada Tourism Partnership (ACTP). ACTP is a nine member pan-Atlantic partnership comprised of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the four Atlantic Canada Tourism industry Associations and the four Provincial Departments responsible for tourism for New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. For further information about the other three provinces, contact your travel provider or go to www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca (1-800-561-0123), www.novascotia.com (1-800-565-0000) and www.tourismpei.com (1-800-463-4PEI). |
Contact:
Meredith
Pillon Meredith Pillon Marketing Communications 131 East 93rd Street, Suite 6A New York, NY 10128 212-289-1627 – tel 212-996-9034 – fax 917-660-1627 – cell [email protected] [email protected] www.meredithpillon.com |
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