Tourism in Newfoundland
Newfoundland is not an unknown tourism destination. This island is well known for its rugged beauty, spectacular landscapes, unique culture, humpback whales, Icebergs, and multicoloured houses. Many people associate iconic pictures of humpbacks breaching and mountainous icebergs with the Newfoundland Tourism adds that used to play all over the world before the pandemic.
https://icebergquest.com/experience-the-wonder/
Places like Iceberg Quest have become tourism giants taking eager tourists out to see the icebergs up close. Getting to see the sheer size of these things and hear the thunderous cracks as they break apart bit by bit. It is a truly awe inspiring experience and the pictures taken are often the highlights of someone’s travels if not their whole year. Iceberg Quest and companies like O’Brian’s Boat Tours also take tourists out to witness the migrating humpback whales as they chase the herring along the coast. This is another amazing spectacle that is one of the main reasons why people visit Newfoundland and Labrador.
https://www.obriensboattours.com/
Adventure Tourism
Something Newfoundland is not know well for is the adventure tourism scene. However there are many great small adventure tourism operators on the island that offer extremely high quality tours that would rival any out in BC. A province that is known much better for its adventure tourism.
That however, was the situation pre pandemic. The COVID 19 pandemic and Newfoundland’s isolationist policies decimated the whale and iceberg tourism. Adventure tourism on the other hand had a boom. A boom may even be understating things, many companies experienced 100-200% increases in business over the last tourism season. This boom was fuelled by domestic tourism and sky rocketed these adventure companies to being the best known and biggest tourism players on the island overnight.
Rafting Newfoundland is a great example of one of these companies. They are one of the top adventure tourism companies on the island and are the only whitewater rafting company! They operate on the historic Exploits River near the town of Grand Falls-Windsor and have been taking people down safely for 20+ years. Rafting Newfoundland prides themselves on having an adventure for everyone! Their most popular run is the Badger Chute where they take ages 5-95+ for a full day on the river with fun rapids, beautiful swimming holes, amazing scenery, and a meal on the river. You meet at the beautiful Riverfront Chalets this run is good for everyone, if you are nervous their professional guides can calm the ride down and if at any point you want more excitement, they can make it happen.
If it is excitement and adventure you are looking for then they have their Exploits Canyon rafting! Start your trip by watching the guides zipline the boats down, muster your courage for the cliff jump into the canyon (yes that’s how you get in) and begin your adventure. If you raft the high adventure canyon and still want more then they have tiny inflatable kayaks to take the adrenaline to the next level. Celebrate your trip with a meal and a beverage overlooking the run at the Salmon Interpretation Center. If whitewater is not your thing then they offer canoeing/kayaking rentals and lessons at Gorge park right where the river slows to a beautiful crawl.
The High Adventure run also operates out of the Grand Falls-Windsor Salmon Interpretation centre which is a museum based around a glass see through fish ladder. Every year 10s of thousands of wild Atlantic Salmon migrate up the Exploits river. Often on a rafting trip clients will see fish jumping up the rapids.
https://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/plan-and-book/attractions/212829
During the early stages of the pandemic Rafting Newfoundland actually wrote COVID 19 plans for other members of the adventure tourism industry so that segment could get ahead of the pandemic and be given the green light to operate. Indeed during the season about 25% of their marketing was spent marketing other adventure tourism operators believing that all boats rise with a rising tide.
With another summer of staycation policies in Newfoundland the adventure industry and Rafting Newfoundland are poised to solidify their position as long term major players in the tourism world.
Please enjoy this video I produced for Rafting Newfoundland which shows what they bring to the adventure tourism table in Newfoundland:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SluG3w4EcQ
