Introduction

According to three International Travel Publications it should be a good year for Nova Scotia Tourism. We have made the top ten places to visit in 2012 by CNN.com; Lonely Planet and Geographic Traveler. Plus the Bay of Fundy was also named as a top place to visit this year by Frommer's Travel Guide.

They say this is because of a few reasons - the re-building of the Bluenose and the hundred anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, which Halifax played a major role with the rescues. It is all good news for the whole province, most people are sure to explore the area while they are here.

The tourism industry is changing these days. People are looking for more; they want experiences not just to see something, but to be a part of it. Thankfully our tourism industry has seen this and we are changing also.

We have the scenery and sights, the history, heritage and culture which is all a great starting point. But that alone is not enough any more. Now we need to make these places more interactive, encouraging the visitor to get involved while they are here.

This could be such things as live demonstrations where the visitor can try their hand at doing something themselves, or informative walking tours where the guides point out things of interest and tell stories and different folklore along the way. It also includes things like the whale watching, Bay of Fundy mud sliding, riding the tidal bore, geocaching, going on a lobster boat, graveyard tours and other tours where the guides dress for the period and even do some acting of the characters. Farms, fishing boats, craftspeople and other businesses are opening their doors to show what goes on and maybe give the visitor a chance to try things themselves. This all helps in making the visit exciting and giving the visitor fond stories and memories to take back with them. This brings them back again and spreads the word to others, especially now with social media so popular.

Facebook, Windows Live, Twitter and other social media have all opened up the way for fast, free advertising, and genuine advertising. People are quick to post about the things they are enjoying, they upload pictures of sights they are seeing, they recommend experiences, places to stay and places to eat. This can also go bad if they find negative experiences so it is very important to always be on our best behaviour. That should not be too much of a problem here; we are very friendly people by nature.

GPS and cell phone are also making a huge difference in the way the visitor plan and experience their vacation. They can now find most of their information on the web make reservations and interact with the places they are interested in. They can find other points of interest on their interactive maps and read what others have said about the experience. There are an unlimited supply of Apps they can download to help them with their vacation, a lot of them free.

Yes the way we go on holidays has really changed, and it is still changing very fast. It is hard to keep up, but keep up we must. We have the foundations here already to make this a desirable place to visit; now we just have to keep building on them. Let's embrace this new way of tourism and give our visitors something to talk about and pass on.

On a sadder note, what is with all the fires this year? In just a matter of a few months we have lost two very fine tourist establishments. First the main lodge at White Point Beach goes up in fire and last night we lost the Pine View Inn in Coldbrook, formerly the Wadlyn Motel. These were not just small fires, they were massive destructive ones completely destroying the buildings. Thankfully White Point is in the process of rebuilding now. The Pine View had just completed renovations recently and opened a new restaurant and lounge. It is too soon to know if they plan to rebuild yet. Hats off to our Volunteer Firemen who worked tirelessly in freezing temperatures to contain these fires so they did not spread farther.

Upcoming Events

First one up is the Annual Sheffield Mills Eagle Watch. Anyone who likes eagles at all or likes to experience wildlife in the outdoors should try to take this event in. I have gone on two of them and can't wait to get back to the area to go again. There is just something about seeing so many of these beautiful birds of prey gathered together in the trees and skies chattering to each other it is exhilarating. Stop at the Sheffield Mills Community Hall first for a great breakfast, displays and information on where best to view the eagles and then get out there to see sights you will never find anywhere else. The 2012 Sheffield Mills Eagle Watch is being held on Saturday & Sunday January 28 & 29 and again on Saturday & Sunday February 4 & 5.

The next festival is The Nova Scotia Ice Wine Festival held from Feb. 2 - 12th, 2012. The Nova Scotia Winter Ice Wine Festival is held every year after the harvest of the ice wine grapes. The festival last for ten days and there are over forty special events held across the province. As the Annapolis Valley is excellent wine-making country with several fine wineries a big part of the events are held here in the valley. How can you go wrong when you have award-winning ice wines paired with delicious local cuisine made by our finest chefs?

The month of February is also Winter Carnival month! There are several winter carnivals going on throughout the valley with a wide range of winter fun for everyone. Some are one day events and some like the Bear River Winter Carnival is held over several days. They all guaranty to have lots of things to see and take part in to cheer up any winter blues that might be setting in.

Updates & Changes to Annapolis-Valley-Vacation.com

So I have decided to concentrate on the annual festivals and events more extensively than I have been and mostly leave all the one time events for others to cover. I will still post any one-time events sent in to me on my Annapolis Valley Facebook Page which is reaching a wide audience as well as showing up on my web site on every page. I have people sending in book launches, fund-raising events and special dinners and meetings that I will list on there.

I have found that there are still way too many annual festivals and events to cover on one page; it would be way too long. So I am still breaking them up, but only into three pages now - Spring Events (January to end of June); Summer Events (July and August) and the Fall Events (September until end of December). (I used to have about six of these pages.) I started out with the spring events and festivals as they are the first coming up.

I have redone my Annapolis Valley Spring Events Page taking out the table that was there and instead listing the events with a small informative paragraph. If the festival sounds interesting then you click on the event title and it will take you to another page on my site with lots more information about the festival. Maybe some background information or the type of events you can expect to find at that festival. Then at the bottom, (where possible) I have added links to web sites where the visitor may find up-to-date dates, times and schedule-of-events. This has meant I have had to write up several new pages for my web site, too many to list here but you will see them if you go to the Spring Events page.

I am hoping this will prove to be a better way to cover these annual events and festivals, especially when I do not have the opportunity to keep on top of all of them. I have found that most of the festivals seem to hold the same events every year, with maybe a few changes and additions. My information will help the visitor decide if they are interested in these festivals and point them to where they can find out more up-to-date information.

I am also adding to each events page a form for those who plan and run annual festivals in the Annapolis Valley to use if they have a festival or event they would like included. If you would like your festival added to my pages please use the form and provide as much information as you can include a web site URL if possible. Keep in mind it takes awhile to look up information, write up the page and upload it to my site, so do not expect your information to be put right up. Please give as much notice as possible before the festival to help ensure it is added for this year. Especially in the summer months I do not have easy access to add pages and information to my site, most of my work is completed between October to April.

Next I will be working on the Summer Events and festivals, I already have many of these wrote up on pages, but there are many I do not. Once I have the three season event pages finished then I will have to redo my main events page and then delete a few pages that will no longer apply. I hope to have this finished by the end of the month as there are still other projects I want to work on with the site this year.

I have the "Tidbit of Information" pages almost ready to go up but will probably wait to finish up the event pages. I still want to work on a page for local authors and books. Until I do if you have a new book and are planning a book launch you may either post the information on my facebook page or send the information to me and I will post it.

My Annapolis Valley Facebook Page is still doing very well, with new followers almost daily. As mentioned above it is important to develop a relationship with your followers and social media is the perfect way. The question of the day still seems to be going over well and everyone looks forward to new pictures and old postcards being added. It is like running two sites, each complimenting the other.

Well it has been a busy month so far and this month I have pages to show for it! As the saying goes "busy hands make the time go by" is proving very true. Here it is almost halfway through January, it will be time to go back to work before I know it!

Remember if you have any suggestions of things you would like to see on this site please feel free to contact me by answering to this Ezine, using my contact forms, or now by submitting your stories yourself on my C@ pages.

Until next month, have fun, live good and love hard!