Local hotels and recreational facilities that would normally host sporting teams this time of year say they have been left with a loss of revenue because certain extra-curricular activities or tournaments aren’t taking place.
Local hotels and recreational facilities that would normally host sporting teams this time of year say they have been left with a loss of revenue because certain extra-curricular activities or tournaments aren’t taking place.
Tracy Heighton, front desk manager for the Travel Lodge in New Glasgow, said they have noticed a drop in occupancy because school teams that usually book in for tournaments between January and March are not calling.
“Mostly we do get a lot of teams,” she said, “but now we aren’t getting the high school teams in. Usually it is every weekend and it’s either hockey or basketball.”
Heighton said some minor hockey tournaments are taking place as well as sporting events not associated with school, but instead of something every weekend, there are now some weekends free.
The Holiday Inn in Stellarton also confirmed that work to rule has impacted its cancellations and room occupancy forecast.
Cindy MacKinnon, manager of Destination Eastern and Northumberland Shores, said local accommodations do have some corporate bookings as well as guests travelling, but they are usually busy with school teams participating in regional or provincial sporting events.
“The travel for those sports teams is having a huge impact on tourism,” she said, adding the loss is province-wide.
According to the Nova Scotia Athletics calendar of events, basketball qualifying tournaments as well as wrestling regionals are expected to take place at the end of February. This is followed by skiing, snowboarding, hockey and curling. In April, regionals take place for badminton, cheerleading, softball, rugby and table tennis.
In addition to the accommodations, she said other businesses such as restaurants and retail stores also benefit from such events.
Local recreation facilities such as rinks and curling club that would regularly host school groups say they have been impacted by work to rule with rentals down.
Colin Dorrington, manager of the Westville Minor Sports Centre, said his rink used to host both male and female hockey teams as well as grammar and middle school teams amounting to a little over seven hours of rentals a week. So far this year, he estimates the rink has lost about $7,000 in revenue since work to rule started.
The Danny Dorrington Memorial Hockey Tournament, which would have seen six male high school hockey teams from out of town visit the county, was also cancelled this month.
He said the new Midget X league, put in place by Hockey Nova Scotia for male high school players, will be starting this week so close to five hours a week of that time will be filled.
Managers with Trenton Minor Sportsplex and the Hector Arena said they also had losses of $1,000 or more in their budgets because of the loss of school hockey.
Outside of hockey, Frank MacLeod, chair of the Caledonia Curling Club in Pictou, said the club used to host two junior teams in the past from the schools as well as having some of the schools access its club for recreation purposes at least four times a year.
He said it generated a little bit of revenue for the club and introduced the students to a new sport.
“It's too bad for the kids,” he said.
Gary Matheson, manager of the William M Sobey Indoor Sports Complex in Stellarton, said if the work to rule continues until the end of March, the complex could lose as much as $8,000 in revenue.
Northumberland Regional High School’s rugby team starts training indoors at the facility in February and March, but this won’t be happening if work to rule continues.
In addition, he said, the facility rents out its space to school groups for field trips and fun activities such using its inflatables. Two of these school visits had to be cancelled in December.
Matheson said the school trips are not the only revenue for the facility but it is also good exposure since students from outside of Stellarton book in trips and get to know what the building can offer.
