NL-Outsidethebox [confederation]

That ad is abyssmally bad.

If you're going to go small-town boosterism, at least go small-town boosterism on something work boostering... not this Flat Earth Society chestnut.

And I wonder... is this the year the there is FINALLY some Labrador content in the Newfoundland AND LABRADOR tourism ads?

There has never been an identifiably Labrador image in any of the television or magazine ads, at least not in the past 25 years. Maybe back in the 70s or 60s.

Labrador pays into the tourism budget. Why doesn't Labrador get anything in return, other than benign indifference?
 

Sorry NOSTB,
But that is one gawd awful add. Looks to me like the target audience is rock climbing semi literates who hang around Mulligans pub on Poolbeg St. in Dublin,
Eire.
Wayne over at ‘Table Mountains’ does a way better job of selling Newfoundland than department of tourism does.
As WJM say’s, how about the mainland part of the province getting a break from the closed minds down there in oil city.
 

The Ad is geared towards Eco Tourism. You know the Animal Rights Activists kind. The same ones who support the SS Sea Shepard society.

I realize liing in the woods it is hard to imagine that people would actually come to see them. But when you are living in a high rise in a big city and the only wild life you ever see are squirrels and pigeons in the city parks people want to get away from the concrete and pavement and back to nature.
Just look at the number of reality shows and their popularity as an indication of the appeal of wild places.

As for Wallace J MAclean don't buy into his NFLD bashing he workes for the federal government and I suspect has a strong connection with Quebec. If you follow his comments his affinity for Labrador is a veiled attempt to hid his real love which is the Liberals and their Ontario strong hold.
It is one thing to criticize but it is another thing all together to to bash our province only to support the Liberals at all costs with no care or concern for our province. His priorities are not with the betterment of Labrador and even less with the betterment of our province as a whole. It is a well know tactic divide your enemies and conquer. It is only through a unified front that NL will prosper.
Prime example of the Liberals intentions to continue to use Labrador as a colony to supply Ontario is their policy to continue clawing back Non-Renewable resource revenues from the equalization formula.
NL contributes three 3 times more per capita to the national GDP than any other province and here we are the poorest province all because of this clawing back of our Non-renewable resource revenues with the equalization formula. What do you think all the stink with the Atlantic Accord was about this very same issue Clawing back of our NRRR with the equalization formula.

Labrador needs to build on it's native culture and set something like a igloo hotel or cottages. There is a I ce Hotel in Quebec where they charge 500$ a nite to sleep in a ice cube albeit a nice ice cube.
These igloos cabins or hotel could be done using geodesic dome structures. The 6 billion people in the world mostly living like rats in stacked box apartment buildings, want photo ops and stories to tell their moka drinking friends back in metropolis.

I agree Wayne over at table mountains does a wonderfull job of promoting NL specifically his own corner of the world through his pictures we need more like him and your one of them you have a wonderfull site. I especially like the natural photos of the wild life.

Gotta go but if you read back in my archives I have tried to make suggestions for improving and diversifying NL's economy.
 

Hi NL ExPat,
I hold no brief for WJM, party, province or country. When some one is right they are right, that was an awful add no matter who it was targeted for. I have seen way more spectacular scenes in my neck ‘of the woods’, and many many other necks of woods in many counties. I have lived and worked in several cities in several countries, why do you think I’m happy up here. Being happy does not mean I have to sit back and watch all the inequities without having something to say about it. WJM can attest to that.
Before we build all these ice hotels I think we should consult the local natives to get their thoughts, just a thought.
 

The Ad is geared towards Eco Tourism.

Not very well. The premise stinks, even if the visuals are nice. Who cares about the Flat Earth Society? What a crock!

As for Wallace J MAclean don't buy into his NFLD bashing he workes for the federal government and I suspect has a strong connection with Quebec.

Well, I don't, actually, other than having some remote Quebec ancestry. But so what if I did have a connection with Quebec?

And it's not exactly Nfld-bashing to point out that Labrador images never get featured in Newfoundland and Newfoundland tourism ads.

Labrador tourism operators contribute their fair share to the tourism marketing budget. Why doesn't Labrador get anything in return? Isn't Labrador part of the province? If it is, then it should be featured in tourism ads, too.

Otherwise, give the money back to Labrador so that Labradorians can market their own region, if Newfoundlaners are too miserly and selfish to do it.

It is one thing to criticize but it is another thing all together to to bash our province

I'm not bashing the province, I'm bashing the short-sighted, Newfoundland-centric attitude of too many people in Newfoundland and in the provincial government.

Surely you will agree: if the tourism marketing campaign is meant to market Newfoundland AND LABRADOR, then the campaign should include images of Newfoundland AND LABRADOR... not just of Newfoundland.

His priorities are not with the betterment of Labrador

Yes they are.

and even less with the betterment of our province as a whole.

Labrador is part of the province, isn't it?

I want things to improve in Labrador. That improves the province. If the improvements in Labrador gore some sacred cows in Newfoundland, or, heaven forbid, mean Newfoundland has to spend money in Labrador (what a concept!) so be it.

All one province, right?

Prime example of the Liberals intentions to continue to use Labrador as a colony to supply Ontario is their policy to continue clawing back Non-Renewable resource revenues from the equalization formula.

How is that "using Labrador as a colony?"

Colonialism, my friend, is what happens when Newfoundland collects hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue out of Labrador and Labrador's resources, and refuses to spend any of it in Labrador, shifting responsibility to the federal government.

If Newfoundlanders want Labrador to be a federal responsibility, that can be arranged. However, if Labrador is part of the province, Newfoundland needs to start re-investing Labrador revenues in Labrador.

Start with the tourism ads.

Why aren't any Labrador images featured?

Don't Labrador hotels, restaurants, B&Bs etc., pay taxes to the provincial government?

NL contributes three 3 times more per capita to the national GDP than any other province

Do you have a source for this statistic?

and here we are the poorest province all because of this clawing back of our Non-renewable resource revenues with the equalization formula.

All provinces are treated equally in this respect.

Labrador needs to build on it's native culture and set something like a igloo hotel or cottages. There is a I ce Hotel in Quebec where they charge 500$ a nite to sleep in a ice cube albeit a nice ice cube.

All the tourism development in Labrador is going to be worthless if the provincial government continues to refuse to tell the rest of the world that Labrador even exists.

Why is Labrador never featured in a Newfoundland AND LABRADOR tourism advertising campaign?

Is Labrador even part of the province any more?

Danny? Hello? Remember how you were going to make Labrador feel like "an integral part of the province"? You sure have a funny way of going about it.
 

Brian
Noone is going to build the ice hotels for you as you so negatively allude to.
It is up to you or someone from your area to propose a idea or business plan if you want funding for a private enterprise.

I just mentioned that as an example of what some people are looking for in a holiday.

Geodesic domes aren't made out of ice either they are or can be permanent structures. Made to look and feel like an igloo.

I try not to be too negative unless of course I can propose an alternative or point out an alternative.

This ad is only the first of a continuing story line supposedly?

I suppose you bought into the negative connotations by the Liberal Scare campaign fend for yourselves arguement also, versus the welfare state proposed by the Liberals?

When will we learn big government doesn't work for us we have to put forth ideas and initiatives that we develop for ourselves, our own areas and opportunities.
 

I don't care if it's big government, small government, elephantine government or microscopic government, but if Labrador is paying into that government, Labrador should be getting something back out of that government; and if it isn't, then things have to be rethought.
 

Hi NL Ex Pat,
Thank you for the business 101, and kindly refrain from bagging me in with WJM or any party politics. As I mentioned, I am no body’s patsy.
My views and musings are formed from my experience and observations on the ground.
If it is negative to suggest that unique cultural and geographies be considered in any development in Northern Labrador then I’m the most negative barstard you will come across.
I have first hand and many anecdotal instances to say unequivocally that the playing field is not level regard tourism in NL. As fare as tourism advisors and consultants with in NL Government tourism is concerned there is no L just the N.
I have spoken to many tourists here who have all said getting information on Labrador destinations and attractions is almost impossible. Insistence and experience pays off some times, but inevitably destinations on N are pushed. I know one reason why this is, the advisor/consultants know next to bloody nothing about L. I am close to one tourism operator who has world experience in outdoor adventure tourism. From that persons mouth come confirmed anecdotes of; time and time again people who look for advice from the province are steered to N locations, even when the client specifically asked for information on L.
Many Europeans have been looked at like they came from space when telling people they are going to the North Coast for a holiday, just to look around and see what’s what. This is in N mind, not Toronto or Ottawa. I could go on for pages with examples.
Lastly, this is across party lines too, nothing has changed with the “new, clean, I care for Labrador and feel your pain” Danny Boy Government.
Well this is lastly, so even if you are doing it in true capitalist way, you still have to get the banks to come to the table, the government has control of all the advertising, a small start up cant afford to do this on their own. If N operators are getting the advantage of tax payers largess then why not L. You play with the cards you are dealt, the game is rigged, N has all the high cards, even after L tips the table over and draws his gun.
 

Brian, it's lots and lots of fun to call the 1-800-NFLD number -- yes, it's NFLD -- and play dumb, asking lots of stupid questions about Labrador.

You usually get lots of stupid answers.
 

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