COVID-19 (Coronavirus) Tourism Industry Resource Page

Last updated: April 3, 2020.

The impact of COVID-19 has already had a significant loss in tourism revenues and we estimate that, with the Cape Breton Island tourism industry essentially shutting down from March 16 possibly to the end of June, the loss of direct tourism revenues will be in the vicinity of $95 million, plus spinoffs. Beyond that period, there is tremendous uncertainty.

To assist the industry at this difficult time, we have compiled a list of resources and will continue to add updates to provide a portal that you may consult for the latest information.

The Current Situation

We don’t know the full impact this outbreak will have on the 2020 tourism season on the Island, but it has already had a significant effect:

The Team Japan training camp that was to take place in Port Hawkesbury in advance of the IIHF Women’s World Cup has been postponed to 2021;
Science Atlantic conferences and Psychology of Language Learning conference at Cape Breton University have been cancelled;
The Nova Scotia Federation of Municipalities has cancelled it’s spring conference which was scheduled for May in Sydney;
The cruise season has been delayed until July 1, with the loss of 22 ship calls to the Port of Sydney;
The Vince Ryan Memorial Hockey Tournament and the Wallace Bernard Memorial Native Youth Hockey Tournament have been cancelled;
The Canadian National Darts Championships, both Youth and Adults, have been cancelled; and
Bookings are being effected.

As of Thursday, March 19, restaurants are restricted to take-out and delivery orders only. They can’t open for in-person dining. All drinking establishments, winery and distillery tasting rooms and craft taprooms must close (private liquor stores can operate, and craft breweries, wineries, and distilleries can still sell their products from their storefronts). Destination Cape Breton has set-up CapeBretonTakeOut.ca to promote take out and delivery options to Cape Breton residents. To be listed, please contact [email protected].

Parks Canada has temporarily suspended all visitor services in all national parks and national historic sites. Visitor facilities will be closed temporarily, including washrooms and day use facilities. Parks Canada is also temporarily suspending all motor vehicle access by visitors at all national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation areas effective 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 until further notice. Highways and roadways which pass through Parks Canada places will remain open. Full Parks Canada news release available here.

Nova Scotia has declared a state of emergency. Gatherings will be limited to five people. Police are authorized to enforce orders under the Health Protection Act related to self-isolation and social distancing, and can issue summary offence tickets for people who are not adhering to those orders. Anyone who has travelled outside the province will need to self-isolate for 14 days. There will be controls enforced at the borders of the province to restrict travel.

Although traffic to Destination Cape Breton’s website from our key markets was up 93% year-to-date over 2019 up to March 12, it has since dropped significantly and we have paused the vast majority of our marketing activities to conserve resources for an eventual recovery campaign. We are hopeful that healthy travellers from our key markets will want to visit us when it is deemed to be safe to do so and we are advocating for a robust recovery plan from the Federal and Provincial governments.

We agree with the World Tourism Organization that “the tourism sector is committed to putting people and their well-being first.” As such, we will continue to monitor and follow the direction of public health leaders.

Please note: Destination Cape Breton has closed its office until further notice and staff are working remotely.