Opportunities in Key Sectors
Invest in Tourism
The Irish Loop is one of the Province’s priority touring routes. Most tourists to the Province visit by air, flying into St. John’s International Airport. They can visit all areas within the Loop within two hours and can complete a circle returning to St. John’s during a short visit to the Province.
Major Tourist Attractions
The Festival of the Sea an annual event which links communities in southeastern Ireland with the southern Avalon for the purpose of creating business connections and exchanging information on best practices.
The Colony of Avalon in Ferryland: This archeological dig consists of seven sites where the remains of the 1621 English Colony settlement under the leadership of Sir George Calvert and Lord Baltimore have been uncovered. Visitors can ask archeologists about their findings about daily life in the Colony during the 17th Century.
Associated with the Colony of Avalon is a museum of archeological artefacts and a summer dinner theatre at the Bernard Kavanagh regional art centre.
The East Coast Trail: 520 km. of coastal hiking trails, with 220km. completed from St. John’s south to Cappahayden.
The Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve, close to Brigus South, is the location of fossils of the oldest complex life forms anywhere on planet Earth. Close to the site is an interpretation centre from which tours to the site can be arranged. The Reserve has been nominated for designation as a Unesco World Heritage Site. It is close to Cape Race whose wireless station received the distress signal from the RMS Titanic prior to its sinking on April 15, 1912.
The Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, including four islands which are the habitat for puffins, storm-petrel, kittiwakes and murres. These bird colonies are a feature attraction for boat tours from Bay Bulls along with whale-watching and icebergs viewing.
Avalon Wilderness Reserve: containing prime habitat for caribou, moose, partridge (willow ptarmigan), waterfowl, pitcher plants (the Province’s floral emblem) and, in the woods, lichen known as “old man’s beard”. Rivers in the Reserve contain brook and brown trout, smelt and landlocked salmon. There are six scheduled salmon rivers.
Individual and group experiences for hiking, sea kayaking, and viewing of flora and fauna.
There are other major attractions located in close proximity to the Irish Loop, including the Cape St. Mary’s ecological reserve, Signal Hill Historic Site, the Salmonier Nature Park and Castle Hill National Historic in Placentia.
In addition there is a network of eight community museums, as well as five lighthouses and many beaches.
Private sector investment opportunities
- high end accommodation and food service
- family recreation such as amusement parks, campgrounds and a golf course
New product opportunities
- deep sea fishing (including sport fishing for deep-sea swordfish),
- outfitting and naturalist guiding,
- shuttle bus service from St. John’s including a service for hikers along the Trail.
There are provincial parks at La Manche and Chance Cove.
There are a number of properties available for tourism, including former schools, churches and convents, industrial buildings and a campground and park.