The effects of climate change were front and centre Thursday as the federal tourism minister met with business owners on Prince Edward Island.
Soraya Martinez Ferrada says the federal government is working with tourism operators across Canada to get them ready for the events that lay ahead.
“I think more and more we understand the impact — when you see Rideau Canal not having ice, when you see the ice hotel in the winter that’s melting,” Martinez Ferrada said in an interview with CBC News.
“I think the tourism sector is understanding that we have to evaluate how we’re going to adapt to these changes.”
But her concerns are not limited to the on-the-ground effects of climate change.
“When you see media all over the world saying ‘Canada is burning,’ the reputation hit that it makes for the travellers to want to come to Canada [is] an issue,” she said.
Chad Heron, CEO of Cows Ice Cream, shares that consternation.
“People don’t want to go out and travel in storms, and we’re a tourism-based business,” Heron said.
