Angie MacIsaac is kept busy today, providing insights into the history of the Canso Causeway to a group of American tourists visiting the Strait Area Museum.
As MacIsaac gestures towards the causeway, a noticeable vacant building in Port Hastings, N.S., catches the visitors’ attention. This building once housed the Visitor Information Centre, but it was closed in February due to budget cuts by the provincial government.
In response to the closure, MacIsaac and her museum colleagues have initiated a one-year trial project to establish a “community visitor information center” for tourists exploring Cape Breton. Their goal is to fill the void left by the shuttered center and eventually transform the museum into a permanent hub for welcoming visitors.
Destination Cape Breton, a tourism advocacy group, rallied the island’s municipalities to fund the reopening of the center on a limited scale following the closure announcement in February. Nova Scotia Public Works has announced plans to demolish the former visitor center building and a nearby gift shop in the next two years to make way for a new roundabout scheduled for completion by 2029.
Inside the Strait Area Museum, pamphlets previously available at the visitor center are now on display. The province is also working on new highway signage to direct tourists, while MacIsaac and the Port Hastings Historical Society are providing training to society members and other volunteers to ensure smooth operation, especially during the tourism shoulder season as student staff will conclude their duties by the end of August.
MacIsaac views the museum as a prime opportunity to serve as the initial point of contact for Cape Breton visitors, aiming to offer a warm welcome that embodies the essence of the island.
Although the province currently does not provide financial support for the museum’s new initiative, the historical society is encouraged to apply for funding through the province’s Community Visitor Information Centre program.
Accommodation operators in Cape Breton, such as Yvette MacPhee of Ocean View Motel and Chalets in Chéticamp, see promise in the community-driven visitor center model. MacPhee highlights the importance of such centers, especially in areas with limited cell coverage, where tourists often struggle to find accommodations.
With the success of similar community-run visitor centers in St. Peter’s, Baddeck, and Chéticamp, stakeholders believe that the Strait Area Museum’s efforts may lead to positive outcomes for Cape Breton’s tourism industry.
