Yahoo Finance Fundy group gets ACOA money to promote mountain biking, year-round tourism
A non-profit group that promotes Fundy National Park has received about $832,000 in federal money to help boost mountain biking as well as the potential of year-round tourism in the area.
About $437,000 will be used by the Fundy Guild to make New Brunswick a top-tier destination for the sport, said Micha Fardy, the executive director of the organization who has been working alongside local mountain bikers.
"In the past 10 years great trails have been developed in Atlantic Canada but there isn't a network that enables people to find those trails," said Fardy.
Local bikers raised this concern to the Fundy Guild. Together they decided to work on an application for funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
The group is now called Mountain Bike Atlantic.
Part of the money received from ACOA now finances the group's website, where local riders and community advocates upload trail maps, trip itineraries, photos and blog posts of the Bay of Fundy region, as well as other regions well-known for mountain biking across Atlantic Canada.
Project manager and avid mountain biker Sam Bosence owns a small mountain biking adventure business in Saint John.
She travels throughout Atlantic Canada doing trail community assessments for Mountain Bike Atlantic.
"I see which destinations are ready to be featured on the web page and promoted as a destination for mountain biking."
In New Brunswick, Bosence said there are about 10 trails ready for a global audience, including Rockwood Park in Saint John, Fundy National Park and Sugarloaf Bike Park.
Bosence said a team of professional photographers captures the trails for the site, but she doesn't expect to rely on them for long.
"In the future, it's the local people who will continue with the pictures and content."
Fardy said the goal is to welcome bikers and encourage investment, whether it be through trail infrastructure or signs.
"Part of the mountain-bike experience lies within the communities," Fardy said. "We will work with these trail communities to highlight them as well."
A project for rural tourism
The rest of the money ACOA gave to the Fundy Guild will go to a project to promote year-long tourism in the upper Bay of Fundy and nearby countryside, Fardy said. That will include communities such as Alma, Hillsborough, Sussex, Riverside-Albert and St. Martins.
"We will develop a strategic plan for this rural region to develop it as a destination," she said.
According to Fardy, the project is supported by the municipalities involved as well as the local chambers and tourism associations.
Fardy describes it as a regenerative approach to tourism.
The Fundy Guild team, also known as Friends of Fundy, is pulling existing data for the region and trying to understand the assets around accommodation, restaurants, local food and beverage operators in the area.
A summary of all the reports and strategies created for the area for the past 15 years is also being compiled. And in the fall, Fardy said, conversations will be held with locals on how to extend the tourism season in this area into the winter.
"What do operators need to be evolving into a year-round experience? Do we need new operators and experiences?"
The team is also trying to figure out where municipalities stand in terms of their online presence and where the Fundy Guild needs to be working collaboratively to strengthen that presence.
According to Fardy, both of these projects will go on for 18 months.
