Dear Minister Mackay:

Our business, Fishers' Loft Inn is located in Port Rexton on the Bonavista Peninsula, some 30 km distant from the Town of Bonavista.

Every year, approximately 1,400 visitors stay with us. We have, since our inception in 1997, enthusiastically promoted that our guests visit the Town of Bonavista. It is, in our view, an almost perfect tourism template in that it has been able to retain much of its original character, especially the fishery along with preservation of vernacular architecture and in recent years the development of services and attractions directly complimentary to tourism and community economic development.

An interesting characteristic and one which is not widely discussed or understood is that Newfoundland and Labrador's gradually maturing tourism scene is attracting repeat visitors. The Garrick Theatre plays a pivotal role in that this type of facility undertakes programming which changes weekly, monthly, yearly. In other words, Bonavista as a destination and the Garrick Theatre in particular have the capacity to capture the interest of a return visitor. Another aspect of this same issue is that domestic tourism comprises 80% of all tourism in the Province. To secure repeat visits from residents (especially from the Northeast Avalon)attraction program changes are critical.

Finally, the Garrick Theatre has the potential to become part of a live theatre touring circuit. That is to say, that the costs of mounting original performances by one theatre company can be amortized by touring a production thereby exposing it to a much wider audience and securing additional revenues.

We strongly support the Garrick Theatre development and respectfully request that you and your officials review and reverse the decision to halt funding for the completion of this outstanding anchor attraction in Bonavista.

Yours sincerely,
John & Peggy Fisher
Owners, Fishers' Loft Inn
Box 36
Port Rexton, NL A0C 2H0
www.fishersloft.com
enquiries@fishersloft.com

cc:
Hon. Loyola Hearn, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
Hon. Danny Williams, Premier, Newfoundland and Labrador
Hon. Tom Hedderson, Minister, Tourism, Culture and Recreation
Hon. Kathy Dunderdale, Minister, Innovation, Trade and Rural Development
Scott Simms, M.P., Bonavista Gander Grand Falls-Windsor
Roger Fitzgerald, M.H.A., Bonavista South
Paul Mills, Vice-President (Newfoundland and Labrador), ACOA
Mayor Betty Fitzgerald, Town of Bonavista