Tourism Development Investment

Mandate

The Planning and Development section of the Tourism Division provides tourism development and planning support, including financial assistance and guidance to communities; assistance in developing the market-readiness of Nova Scotia’s most competitive tourism products, destinations, and attractions; development and distribution of “How To” tourism development publications designed to assist entrepreneurs and tourism operators; and tourism policies, including developing and supporting government policy that assist in the growth and competitiveness of Nova Scotia’s tourism sector.

The annual priorities for development support and assistance are set as part of the Department’s Annual Tourism Plan. The continuing theme of “New Realities, New Directions” highlights the changes facing Nova Scotia’s tourism industry and the importance of developing competitive and sustainable tourism experiences. Experiences that appeal to a new type of visitor.

Introduction & Background

The Annual Tourism Plan focuses on growing tourism through a focus on Core Experiences, while continuing to look at tourism development that addresses market-readiness/quality and sustainability. Being customer-oriented is the focus of the Annual Tourism Plan with the two strategic product development priorities being:

1 Destination Development: Investing in the development and enhancement of tourism attractions, sites, and experiences that incorporate Nova Scotia’s strategic priorities will help destinations create the products and services unique to their area.

2 Industry Development: Investing in educational, best business practices, and market-readiness initiatives to enhance the quality of tourism services, businesses, and products.

Specific actions to address these two product development priority areas are outlined within the Annual Tourism Plan, which can be viewed at www.gov.ns.ca/tch

There is much work to be done in developing products and experiences in which Nova Scotia has a competitive strength and can motivate travel to the province. Our competitive strengths are those with a strong market appeal and a potential for increased demand and spending. Research has been conducted to determine Nova Scotia’s competitive products based on emerging markets and product readiness.

You are encouraged to read more by visiting the Department website at www.gov.ns.ca/tch

Investing in Tourism

In order to continue to attract new visitors, Nova Scotia’s Tourism stakeholders need to raise the bar on every aspect of Tourism. New thinking and new investment are critical to achieving “real” growth in our industry. Efforts to grow tourism must focus on developing new, innovative, quality products and experiences that feature our competitive strengths and motivate travel to Nova Scotia.

This program will support initiatives which focus on key product priorities such as: culinary, wine, living history, cultural tourism, founding cultures, and experiential tourism.

Investment Programs

There are two investment programs delivered by the Development and Planning section of the Tourism Division:

1 Tourism Destination Development
2 Tourism Industry Development

The focus of these programs is to invest in projects that will have the greatest tourism impact for visitation to Nova Scotia.

Application Form

For more information on these tourism development investment programs contact:

Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage
Tourism Division
Development and Planning
1800 Argyle Street
Suite 603
PO Box 456
Halifax, NS
B3J 2R5

T (902) 424-3908
F (902) 424-0723
E-mail