Post by ferryfast admin on Jul 13, 2012 12:11:09 GMT -5
Wave of support for revived N.E. ferry to Nova Scotia
By Donna Goodison
bostonherald.com/business/general/view/20220712wave_of_support_for_revived_ne_ferry_to_nova_scotia
Thursday, July 12, 2012
An English retiree’s love for his son has prompted a petition to resurrect ferry service between New England and Nova Scotia.
Patrick McDonald said the end of service from Maine in 2009 shook the economy of the Yarmouth area, where his transplanted son Duncan lives, reverberating through the province’s tourism and real estate industries.
“It’s been catastrophic,” he said. “There were thousands who used to go on the ferry, stop by Yarmouth for two nights and take off.”
McDonald’s petition on Change.org comes as the Nova Scotia government awaits a report next month on whether a new ferry service could be feasible.
Bay Ferries Ltd. stopped running the high-speed Cat — which carried cars, but not RVs and tour buses — from Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine, after the 2009 season, citing declining ridership and the loss of a $6 million annual provincial subsidy. The Scotia Prince cruise ferry, which carried all vehicles between Portland and Yarmouth for years, halted in 2004.
“We believe the route is viable, and it will be self-sustaining, but it will require some startup,” said Keith Condon, chairman of the Nova Scotia International Ferry Partnership, a group of business leaders. “The only subsidies that ever were needed were the last few years of service trying to cover that Portland run with the Cat. It was the wrong kind of vessel.”
Renewal of the ferry service also stands to help New England. Canadians are the region’s No. 1 market for international visitors, with more than 650,000 per year.
“Having another way of getting here would certainly increase the number of visitors from Nova Scotia,” said Pat Moscaritolo, CEO of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Board.
By Donna Goodison
bostonherald.com/business/general/view/20220712wave_of_support_for_revived_ne_ferry_to_nova_scotia
Thursday, July 12, 2012
An English retiree’s love for his son has prompted a petition to resurrect ferry service between New England and Nova Scotia.
Patrick McDonald said the end of service from Maine in 2009 shook the economy of the Yarmouth area, where his transplanted son Duncan lives, reverberating through the province’s tourism and real estate industries.
“It’s been catastrophic,” he said. “There were thousands who used to go on the ferry, stop by Yarmouth for two nights and take off.”
McDonald’s petition on Change.org comes as the Nova Scotia government awaits a report next month on whether a new ferry service could be feasible.
Bay Ferries Ltd. stopped running the high-speed Cat — which carried cars, but not RVs and tour buses — from Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine, after the 2009 season, citing declining ridership and the loss of a $6 million annual provincial subsidy. The Scotia Prince cruise ferry, which carried all vehicles between Portland and Yarmouth for years, halted in 2004.
“We believe the route is viable, and it will be self-sustaining, but it will require some startup,” said Keith Condon, chairman of the Nova Scotia International Ferry Partnership, a group of business leaders. “The only subsidies that ever were needed were the last few years of service trying to cover that Portland run with the Cat. It was the wrong kind of vessel.”
Renewal of the ferry service also stands to help New England. Canadians are the region’s No. 1 market for international visitors, with more than 650,000 per year.
“Having another way of getting here would certainly increase the number of visitors from Nova Scotia,” said Pat Moscaritolo, CEO of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Board.