CAT ferry's 2023 season underway

There is optimism as ticket sales are up considerably over last year

Bay Ferries says there is optimism for the season ahead as The CAT has started its 2023 sailing service.

The ferry operator says so far bookings for the season are up considerably, compared to last year, and there are other positive trends to build on.

“We remain cautiously optimistic about the season,” says Mark Wilson, Bay Ferries’ senior vice president.

Wilson notes the removals of the ArriveCAN App and vaccination requirements takes away a complicating factor that the service had to contend with last year.

“The majority of the customers traveling on The CAT are Americans. The total number of U.S. residents crossing the land border into Canada are still not back to pre-pandemic levels but continue to improve,” he says, adding, “Bookings are up considerably this year over last year. We are still at the very early stages of the season but there are some positive indications.”

The season got underway on May 25, with the ferry sailing from Yarmouth to Bar Harbor, and returning that evening with its first load of passengers coming into Nova Scotia. People disembarking were arriving in the province by vehicle, motorcycle, bicycle and on foot. There were also several campers and RVs on the vessel.

“We felt it was a very good start to the season, with the ship working well and the shipboard and terminal teams excited to be welcoming visitors,” Wilson says.

After the conclusion of each month, Bay Ferries will provide a summary of ticket sales for the month and the season thus far.

Weeks before the start of the season, the company had noted that as of May 2, passenger ticket sales for the season thus far were at 14,556 – an increase of nearly 5,400 from that same timeframe the previous year.

Wilson says the marketing approach has been “all hands on deck,” but also says the ferry operator feels the rebuilding of the service will be a gradual process. Last year was the first year the ferry operated after a three-year hiatus.

“There was considerable effort by the marketing teams last year that we feel is having a positive impact on this year’s bookings. We continue with an aggressive marketing campaign and are touching upon all streams from print, radio, digital as well as various travel and trade shows,” Wilson says.

“We are seeing bookings from all over the USA, Canada and globally from Europe, Asia and South Pacific,” he notes. “Feedback has been very positive from the travel industry and there appears to be strong brand recognition of ‘The CAT’.”

Neil MacKenzie, CEO of the Yarmouth & Acadian Shores Tourism Association (YASTA), says it’s great to see the season underway.

“This is what we want to see. A lot of visitors coming and experiencing Yarmouth and Acadian Shores and Nova Scotia,” he says, adding he feels things have been going well from a marketing perspective.

“One of the great things that happened this year is we were in the market early, so we were selling and Bay Ferries was selling, even in December. That talks to consistency in the market. When

the ferry service is consistent and we know it’s there, we’re able to market it and we’re able to grow it.”

The province contracts Bay Ferries to operate the ferry service between Nova Scotia and Maine. This year it is providing and operating subsidy of about $17 million.

Before the conclusion of last year’s season, the provincial government announced it will carry out a broad study of the ferry service to determine the value and impacts of the service. While there is a lot of discussion about what it costs to operate the service, there isn’t official data on the economic return of the service.

Bay Ferries welcomes and supports the study, which is underway.

"The ferry service represents a significant government investment and so it is important that its impacts through the economy and society be fully understood," says Wilson.

Of course, while The CAT is a means of getting people to the province, Bay Ferries cannot be solely responsible for attracting visitors here. This is a joint effort involving the province, the ferry operator and regional tourism associations.

In March, the province launched a new Nova Scotia tourism marketing campaign that encourages people to spend their vacation time and money in Nova Scotia and is aimed at building on the tourism industry’s strong recovery in 2022.

The campaign, ‘Your Ocean Playground,’ will run through the end of summer in Ontario, Quebec, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts.

“Last year, we saw visitors return in a significant way, with accommodation sales even surpassing 2019 numbers. We want to build on that momentum and help our tourism industry thrive,” said Pat Dunn, minister of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, at the time of the launch.

The campaign includes television, billboard, social media, video and display ads that highlight the wide range of things to do and see in all areas of Nova Scotia. The province is also advertising in Germany and the United Kingdom and running yearround ads in Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada. Around $8.6 million is being spent on marketing in 2023.

Nova Scotia welcomed 1.9 million visitors last year – over a million more visitors than in 2021.

The CAT, meanwhile, will operate four days a week until June 26, when it will then kick into its seven-daya-week operation during the peak tourism season. Starting Sept. 7, it will return to a shoulder season again, operating five days a week.

Nova Scotians traveling on the ferry receive a 50 per cent discount on fares all season long.

The season ends on Oct. 9.