Levee on the Lake artistic director Shelley Chase

A prominent Tantramar music festival organizer challenged the municipality’s approach to tourism promotion last week, arguing the town lacks a formal tourism strategy, has left advertising dollars unspent and has failed to pursue federal tourism financial support.

Shelley Chase, artistic director of Levee on the Lake, raised the concerns during a presentation to Tantramar Town Council last Tuesday.

She said she began examining the town’s tourism efforts after seeking information about external marketing that could help promote this year’s festival which is being held at the Sackville Music Barn from September 10-13.

“I reviewed the 2025 tourism project budget,” she told council based on figures she received from Treasurer Michael Beal.

“Of approximately $52,000 in spending, nearly $14,000 went to the highway tag signs,” she said referring to promotional signs placed along provincial highways to direct travellers to local events and attractions.

“The total advertising that reached beyond Amherst was only $7,000,” Chase said, adding that 22% of Tantramar’s tourism advertising budget went unspent.

She also questioned why Tantramar did not apply for an Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency tourism grant similar to one received by Salisbury and argued the municipality still lacks a formal tourism strategy three years after amalgamation.

“I would ask the department to explain why there is no tourism plan and how they measure their goals, expenditures and growth without one,” she said.

Town’s response

Jeff Taylor, Tantramar’s director of community and corporate services said he is responsible for coming up with a formal tourism plan.

“The tourism plan is set to be dealt with as part of the economic development plan,” he told council, adding that the Southeast Regional Service Commission has hired “a very expensive firm” to produce their economic development plan.

“So we’re waiting to get the results of theirs so we don’t have to spend a bunch of municipal taxpayer money on information that is in there,” he said.

Tantramar manager of tourism and business development Ron Kelly Spurles

Tantramar’s manager of tourism and business development Ron Kelly Spurles also responded by reading a long list of tourism-related activities carried out by his department including operation of the Visitor Information Centre, production of the annual visitor guide, tourism advertising, highway event signs, social media initiatives, tourism videos and participation in regional tourism organizations.

Kelly Spurles said tourism is only one part of his responsibilities and that he spends roughly half of his time on tourism and business development activities, with the remainder devoted to climate change initiatives, local food projects, grant applications and other municipal responsibilities.

Follow-up on Chase’s questions

Tantramar’s communications officer Sara Ericsson responded in an e-mail to questions from Warktimes.

She wrote that the 22% of the tourism advertising budget that went unspent refers to $3,847.50 that was allocated for a Tantramar tourism video project.

“The producing company hired for this project did not complete the video in time for these ad dollars to be spent before end of year. Rather than spend taxpayer dollars on a rushed project, Tantramar ended the year with that surplus,” she wrote.

“As the new communications officer, I am now collaborating with the team on a thorough review of advertising opportunities.”

Ericsson also confirmed that the town did not apply for an ACOA tourism grant.

Screen capture from Hub City Foodies video promoting Song’s restaurant in Sackville

“Tantramar is part of the Destination Southeast destination marketing organization, which uses significant funding from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) to run advertising programs for our region,” she wrote.

Ericcson said that Tantramar measures the effectiveness of its tourism promotion by gathering figures on how many people arrive at the Visitor Information Centre and where they are from; from the numbers of Visitor & Events Guides taken from the VIC; how many guides are distributed across New Brunswick and how many staff hand out at events.

“For the tourism-related social media content we create, we measure post engagement,” she writes. “This has been high on tourism videos, including on the 10-video series partnership with Hub City Foodies, which continues to generate reach for Tantramar.”

Chase responds

While town officials defended the municipality’s tourism efforts, Chase maintains that the central issue is the lack of a coordinated strategy aimed at promoting the new Town of Tantramar after amalgamation in 2023.

Jeff Taylor has been in his role for eight months and Sara Ericsson for a matter of weeks. This issue predates both of them,” Chase writes in an e-mail to Warktimes.

“A new tourism plan would be wonderful, no one is negating that, but it won’t be in effect until 2027,” she adds.

“Counting VIC visitors is foot traffic, not a measure of advertising effectiveness. Advertising is measured on reach and frequency, using cost-per-point and gross-rating- point analysis. It is because of my background, and working with other tourism departments and municipalities, that I started looking at our own,” she writes.

“I was disappointed to find no media mix. Highway signs on our own doorstep, memberships, a VIC and social media are not fulsome enough to achieve a measured return.

“Tantramar speaks about tourism as a strategic priority, but it is resourced apparently as a half-time responsibility. I would respectfully ask council to reconcile this and determine what level of commitment Tantramar’s tourism function requires, but more so deserves,” she concludes.

Town of Tantramar