Sails equal sales?: Local Halifax businesses brace for Tall Ships weekend

The Rendez-Vous 2017 Tall Ships Regatta officially kicked off in Halifax on Friday with many vessels already docked along the waterfront.

With hundreds of thousands of people expected to descend on the downtown, many local businesses are bracing themselves for the crowds.

“It’s great. We have lots more product being brought in,” said Madeline Ruelland, manager of The Cake Lady on the Halifax waterfront.

“We hired quite a few more people just to help out with this event in particular because the waterfront is going to be so much busier.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We hired quite a few more people just to help out with this event in particular because the waterfront is going to be so much busier."

Read More: Here are some tips if you’re heading to this weekend’s Tall Ships Regatta in Halifax

Jennifer Angel, acting president and CEO of Waterfront Development said if past years are any indication, this year’s event will mean big business.

“The last international event, which was likewise organised by Sail Training International, was in 2009 and the counts were up to $600,000 with an economic impact of up to $32 million,” said Angel.

“Certainly we’ve seen increasing tourist visitation year over year since that time on the waterfront, we’re expecting a very, very busy week in Halifax.”

Ed Dowell, owner/operator of Halifax Kayak, said his company decided to purchase additional boats to keep up with demand.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to be paddling here on the waterfront,” said Dowell.

“We’re selling out every tour, it’s absolutely incredible.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We're selling out every tour, it's absolutely incredible."

READ MORE: Tall Ships to ‘dress up’ Halifax waterfront this summer

The total budget for this year’s festival is $4.7 million with $1.5 mllion coming from both the federal and provincial government. The rest of the funds are coming from Halifax Regional and Municipality and The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

“There’s a tremendous economic impact,” said Halifax MP Andy Fillmore.

“The federal government is keenly focused on the Atlantic provinces right now through something called the Atlantic Growth Strategy and a key pillar of that is tourism.”

The federal government also contributed $600,000 to go towards programming costs for 10 rural outports associated with the regatta including Pictou, Lunenburg and Shelburne.