The Nova Scotia Progressive Conservatives say the contents of a new tourism guide prove that the government intends to close the remaining visitor information centres in the province.
After the government shut down two centres last year, questions have swirled about the future of the six remaining provincially funded centres.
READ MORE: 58 seasonal staff laid off, two visitor centres closed in Nova Scotia
A new edition of the Doers and Dreamers’ Travel Guide that hit shelves this week makes the government’s intentions clear, according to PC MLA and Opposition House Leader Chris d’Entremont.
“The Doers and Dreamers guide that came out yesterday doesn’t have any mention of visitor information centres across the province,” said Chris d’Entremont, PC MLA.
He said he doesn’t believe that the government has yet to make a decision about the future of the centres.
“I don’t buy that at all. I know a decision was made a number of months ago and this government can’t come to terms with it, to at least tell the people that work for them, ‘hey by the way, you’re not going to have a job this summer,'” he said.
Last year, the guide had a full page on how to find provincial visitor information centres. This year, the only indication the centres exist is with icons on a map.
Tourism Nova Scotia, which operates at arm’s length from government, says the new guide is quite different from previous years, starting with the size of it.
“It was kind of big, kind of cumbersome, so we’ve developed a new guide that’s smaller, more compact and made some changes on the inside about how the information is presented,” Michael Johnson, chief operating officer of Tourism Nova Scotia, said.
Johnson said the change is a result of “strategic thinking”.
Most visitor information centres in the province are currently closed for the season, but with summer fast approaching, employees are getting ready to go back to work.
Tourism Nova Scotia says there has been a lot of dialogue about the importance of visitor information centres in the province, but it has not heard what the government plans to do.
“They will be part of the future of the tourism sector in the province, but no, there hasn’t been any official decision made on that,” Johnson said.