CBC Newfoundland & Labrador > Year
in Review > Booze company blamed for poor tourism
Date:
July 22, 2004
GRAND FALLS-WINDSOR -
A vodka company has taken a chunk of the tourism industry in Bonavista,
says the town's mayor.
Betty Fitzgerald says many tourists came to Bonavista recently to see
a large iceberg that was grounded in waters near the town.
However, she says the tourists left prematurely once a crew with the
Canadian Iceberg Vodka Corp. began cutting the berg into pieces.
"It was turning people off, and they were leaving because they
thought it was awful that iceberg was being harvested," Fitzgerald
says.
Iceberg sightings in the Bonavista area have declined this year. Fitzgerald
says tourism operators were thrilled to have a large berg anchor itself
close to shore.
Fitzgerald says she complained to numerous government departments and
the RCMP, but the harvesting stopped only after repeated calls to the
Canadian Iceberg Vodka Corp.'s head office in Toronto.
Dave Hood, a vice-president with Canadian Iceberg Vodka, says the iceberg
was eight miles offshore.
"Does that really justify it for being within a tourist area?
I don't know," Hood says.
Nonetheless, the company ordered its harvester to halt operations.
Hood also denied complaints from Bonavista residents who believed explosives
had been used to break up the iceberg.
Fitzgerald says she understands the company needs icebergs for its
products, but wants the provincial government to put measures in place
to protect icebergs as a tourism resource.
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