February 11, 2000
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)

Minister pleased with tourism call centre numbers

Charles Furey, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, announced today that inquires to the tourism call centre 1-800 line are up significantly over recent years.

A comparison to 1998, when the tourism advertising campaign start dates were very similar, shows an increase of 35 per cent in inquiries to the 1-800 line in the month of January, 2000. To date in 2000, a total of 5867 inquires have been received.

"These numbers represent a fantastic increase in inquires to our toll-free line, which clearly indicates the growth trend in our province�s tourism industry," said Minister Furey. "The Department of Tourism has worked with industry in an effort to promote our incredible tourism product to the world, and it is obvious that the hard work is paying off, as year after year our tourism indicators continue to rise."

Roger Jamieson, president of Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador, was equally enthusiastic about the call-centre numbers. "Industry operators are very optimistic that this increase will reflect another prosperous and busy tourism season," said Mr. Jamieson.

The 2000 advertising campaign began with January insertions in two print publications, namely, Canadian Geographic and Harrowsmith Country Life. The television campaign began the week of January 17 in the Ontario market and is scheduled to begin in the third week of February in the Maritimes.

Media contact: Mary MacNab, Communications, (709) 729-0928, or (709) 682-0366.

2000 02 11 12:00 p.m