Lack of Yarmouth ferry leads U.S. operator to cancel bookings
Transportation minister has 'no doubt' Bay Ferries will find a ship
A tour operator from Connecticut has cancelled dozens of room reservations at the Rodd Grand Hotel in Yarmouth over concerns there may not be a ferry service between Nova Scotia and Maine this summer.
In an e-mail exchange between the tour organizer and the hotel, Natalie Flint of Friendship Tours cites the lack of a ship as the reason for the cancellation.
"Our program was packaged to include travel aboard the Nova Star," she wrote. "Now that they are no longer in service and the new ferry system has not been confirmed yet, we must unfortunately cancel the space."
Tourism Association worried
The company had reserved a block of 26 rooms for three separate nights in June, July and September.
Neil MacKenzie, the general manager of the Yarmouth and Acadian Shores Tourism Association, forwarded the email to Geoff MacLellan, Nova Scotia's transportation minister.
MacKenzie was concerned Bay Ferries, the operator the province chose last October to run the new service, still hasn't found a ship for the run.
"This is evidence that the process of cancellations is beginning and the losses to the tourism industry will begin to mount," he told MacLellan in the email. "I expect that more cancellations will occur as time goes on without a vessel announcement."
'No doubt' ferry will run
But the minister was adamant there will be ferry service this season. MacLellan told reporters on Wednesday he had "no doubt" about this coming season.
"I've been contacted directly by a number from the U.S. and from Canada that have suggested that they wanted to have assurances that the service was going to be in place," he said. "We given them those assurances."
MacLellan spoke about the Friendship Tours cancellations.
"I'm not sure what was the deciding factor that made that decision," he said. "My understanding is that they're looking to come back for 2017."
The minister offered no specific insight into why Bay Ferries seem to be having trouble securing a ship.
"It's a complicated process," he said. "It's one that we've got to make a good decision."
He left the details to Mark MacDonald, CEO of Bay Ferries.
"We're not getting an indication from Bay Ferries that it's time for concern and when we have a vessel, he'll let us know."