Halifax Waterfront looks to rebound in 2021
David Higgins walks along the Halifax waterfront every chance he gets.
"It's about the best part of living in Halifax," said Higgins, who has lived in the city his entire life. “But these days it's a little rough. We’re missing some of the areas you used to walk on."
Multiple construction sites have blocked off large sections of the boardwalk. It is a mixture of private development and municipal upgrades.
Factor in the recent pandemic restrictions and it all adds up to a major drop off in business.
"We have been down here since 2007 and this is our slowest season since then," said business owner Pat Mackin, who added that over the past year, the tourist hot spot has experienced a historic drop off in visitors.
"Right now, it's pretty much local people and people from the surrounding towns," explained Mackin.
Tourism operator and multi-business owner Dennis Campbell is confident the comeback from the pandemic is fast approaching.
"When things open up, it is going to really pop. It is going to be good," said Campbell.
Campbell says a full recovery for the waterfront area would largely hinge on out-of-province and international visitors.
"Cruise ships for us is over half of the business. Cruise ships were down 100 per cent," he says.
Campbell says so far this year his sales have increased compared to this time last year.
"But they are certainly not near where they were in 2019,” said Campbell.
Paul MacKinnon from the Downtown Halifax Business Commission is holding out hope that outdoor festivals will return in some form the summer.
"Event organizers, more than anyone are scrambling a little bit, in terms of trying to figure out what the situation is going to be by the time their event happens," said MacKinnon.
MacKinnon said there are ongoing discussions with the province about the restrictions for waterfront festivals and crowd sizes this summer.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
BREAKING Manitoba government tables bill to end ban on homegrown recreational cannabis
Manitoba is planning to lift its ban on the home growing of recreational cannabis.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.