Richmond County wants figures from tourism lobby group

Cape Breton's southernmost county is requesting four years' worth of financial statements from the island's biggest tourism lobby group to ensure that Richmond County is getting some bang for its buck when it comes to tourism promotion.

Richmond councillors voted unanimously at Monday's council session in Arichat to seek the statements from Destination Cape Breton Association. The county's elected officials aren't convinced that funds raised by a marketing levy on several Richmond tourism accommodations are resulting in increased tourist traffic comparable to the rest of Cape Breton. 

The three per cent levy is applied to customers' bills at select accommodations across Cape Breton Island. Richmond councillors also voted unanimously to continue to allow the association to administer the levy within the county. 

Richmond Warden Lois Landry told reporters after the meeting that the county is entitled to see how the levy money is spent on promoting the county. 

"We're not asking for confidential information — most places post this kind of thing online," Landry said. "So we're just looking to see how money that is collected in Richmond County, what it looks like and how it's disbursed."

Destination Cape Breton defends Richmond strategies

Asked whether Richmond County is being left behind in Cape Breton's overall tourism approach, the warden suggested things haven't changed since she worked as a summer student in an Arichat hotel in 1987. 

"I remember the owner saying, 'You know, gosh, it feels like tourists are just being told to go up the 105 [highway], do the Cabot Trail and go back down the 105,'" Landry said. 

"Aside from some golf on Route 19, I think there would still be some similar criticisms [today]."

That charge drew a rebuke from Destination Cape Breton chief executive officer Terry Smith, who said he and his colleagues have worked diligently to attract visitors to Richmond County. 

"I don't think that's accurate, and I'd be happy to talk to the warden and council about our approach," Smith said Tuesday afternoon. 

"With the vast majority of our visitors, the number one reason that motivates them to come here is the Cabot Trail.… But once we get a visitor on the hook, when they're interested in coming to the island, then we go through a process of educating them on everything there is to do all around the island — including, definitely, Richmond County."

The association has "sent a number of influencers and local ambassadors" to Richmond County over the past decade to showcase a wide range of activities on Cape Breton's southeastern coast, he said. 

Richmond welcome to view financial statements: Smith

Smith said Destination Cape Breton is willing to provide Richmond County with the requested statements from 2020 to 2024. He noted those documents are sent to the association's five member municipalities once they have gone through independent financial audits, and the association's board has recently made the documents accessible to the public as well. 

However, he said the documents don't offer specifics about the percentage of funds spent on Richmond County, since marketing levy revenue is geared to what Smith describes as "a holistic approach" to the entire island. 

"We're happy to sit down and meet with council and walk them through how the decisions are made," said Smith. 

Meanwhile, Landry said she is optimistic about Destination Cape Breton's work and doesn't feel the county needs to leave the organization to handle its own tourism promotion. 

"I just think we just want to be able to have good fulsome discussions about how can we have a conversation about 'What about this or what about that?'" she said. 

"We're being mindful that we want to respect the amount we're contributing. We just want to be sure that we can have discussions that speak to how the dollars are coming in and going out."