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Publications Mail Agreement No. 391275
51st Year No. 19
May 11, 2016
NORTH ISLAND
www.northislandgazette.com
Newsstand $1.29 + GST
Tourism jumps 25 per cent
•TOURISM...
The annual Tourism Season Launch took place May 5. Page 3
• CYBERBULLYING... A-Frame Church in Port McNeill hosts cyberbullying seminar. Page 13
•CLIMBING...
NISS Climbing Wall Rotary fund-raiser a success. Page 18 OPINION Page 4 LETTERS Page 5 SPORTS Page 18-20 CLASSIFIEDS Page 21-23
50 Years Young
Kathy O’Reilly-Taylor Photo
Lincoln Corbett, 9, watches his grandmother, District of Port Hardy Deputy Mayor Pat CorbettLabatt cut the birthday cake in celebration of the community’s 50 years of incorporation on May 6, 1966. Two-year-old Greyson Young shows more interest in the balloons.
By Kathy O’Reilly-Taylor Editor Almost 16,000 tourists came to visit Port Hardy last year, a 25 per cent increase over 2014. “We believe that the marketing efforts put forth from Tourism Port Hardy, Vancouver Island North Tourism Association and the Port Hardy Visitor Centre is the catalyst for increased visitation,” said Port Hardy Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Information Centre Executive Director Carly Pereboom. “We also feel that the Canadian dollar being lower last year was a huge part of this increased visitation and longer lengths in stay,” Pereboom said. According to the Visitor Information Centre’s Summary Report, 2015 proved to be a year of overall growth and not just over the summer. “It is the shoulder season which has most notably picked up” with a 13.1 per cent increase, says the report. Stays lasting more than one night in the off season increased by 6.4 per cent. “Seeing an increase in visitation in late winter and early spring is encouraging as Port Hardy could see the tourism season beginning earlier and going further into the Fall,” said Pereboom.
See page 2 ‘Shoulder season’
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