Marine Atlantic's discounted Argentia fare worries western Newfoundland

Marine Atlantic is offering a discount on summer rates between North Sydney and Argentia, but people on Newfoundland's west coast are not happy with the news.

The ferry service is providing a limited time offer until March 25, where customers can get a 30 per cent reduction on the fare, but only to and from the Argentia terminal.

While the reduced rate is good news for travellers, the marketing move isn't going over well for some business leaders in western Newfoundland.

Chris Noseworthy, president of the Greater Corner Brook Board of Trade, said the sale might divert tourists away from the region during the key summer months.

"Tourists are not going to be passing through our area, are not going to be stopping at our shops, not going to be stopping at our restaurants," he said.

"They are not going to be delivering the same sort of spin off revenue that our businesses have come to expect."

Noseworthy said the discount could encourage people to bypass the west coast during their summer travels and businesses will miss out.

Trial run

Don Barnes, VP of Customer Experience with Marine Atlantic says that's not the case.

"I don't see that there will be any major impact on the Gulf Service," he said. 

"We will still move the vast majority of our customers on that service," said Barnes, adding that that 92 per cent of Marine Atlantic passengers go through Port aux Basques.

He said the company is offering the discount as a trial run, to see what sort of response it gets from customers. 

"The purpose of this is to determine what response we get from our customers," he said.

"Is it a fare that they like? Is it something that's attractive? Is this something that might make sense for us to do in the future?"

It's the first time Marine Atlantic has tried something like it in 15 years. Barnes said over the next year they will try other offers, and assess the success of the reduced rates in about two years.