By Tyler Waugh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Early work on a new collaborative approach to tourism around the Irish Loop was met with optimism during last week’s council meetings in Bay Bulls and Witless Bay.
The latter council unanimously approved and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to join the Irish Loop Tourism Project, which will look to ‘Link The Loop.’
In Bay Bulls, Deputy Mayor Ethan Williams said he was happy to support a similar motion after attending a recent stakeholder session involving residents and businesses.
“It seems like there’s a lot of opportunity, especially after a busy tourism season last year. It had been one of our busiest ever, and definitely our busiest coming out of the COVID years,” Williams said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do regionally to get some more people visiting here and share our part of the province with everyone.”
Bay Bulls Town Manager Ashley Wakeham said local tourism operators have been involved throughout the process through meetings, site visits, and regional engagement sessions held this past winter around the Irish Loop.
More than 150 participants attended the first three sessions, she noted. They represented tourism businesses, municipalities, volunteer groups, and residents from across the region.
“All the tour operators, you know, I think they’ve realized they can’t work independently,” Wakeham said. “They all got to work together and there’s a piece of the pie for everybody here, including residents, with new people moving here and all kinds of spinoffs… A great place to visit is a great place to live, is what we’ve been saying.”
Wakeham said feedback from businesses has been positive, with strong interest in increased regional collaboration, improved signage and wayfinding throughout the Irish Loop and stronger promotion of the region as a unified tourism destination.
“We’re really excited to get this Linking the Loop off the ground and see what other monies might be available,” she said.
Wakeham said the MOU formalizes collaboration but does not require any immediate financial commitment from the municipalities. The pilot project is being funded by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) and the Province.
The MOU establishes a shared commitment to work together on tourism development, planning, and regional initiatives. Over time, the collaboration could lead to the development of a shared cost model for future regional projects, if municipalities choose to move forward with them.
Wakeham said work on the idea began in May 2023, and in 2024 a regional working group of approximately 20 representatives from communities and organizations across the Irish Loop was formed. The group met regularly to identify next steps for tourism development.
Back in Witless Bay, that Town’s CAO, Jennifer Aspell, said she was impressed with the turnout at the stakeholder meetings, noting there were upwards of 40 people at both the daytime and evening sessions held in Bay Bulls.
She said the project acts as a community building opportunity not just for big tourism operators and attractions, but also for residents in the communities as a way to recognize the importance of tourism.
“As the project goes on, we know it’s building momentum,” Aspell said.
She reported there were 1,900 visitors at the Witless Bay tourism chalet in August alone, adding the Town continues to seek funding to extend chalet staffing from April through to October.
