2023 Tourist Season Report

Summer 2023 has been another busy tourist season at the Conception Bay Museum, as reported below:

Special Events:
We’ve had a number of successful Community Special Events this summer, including weekly lunch time concerts on our grounds on Wednesdays, a Haunted Historical Hike in July, Amelia Earhart’s Birthday Party (part of Pirates to Pilots Festival) and a night time concert featuring The Band Amity and Gibbet Hill. As well, we have held different events at the museum, such as our Special Guest Event and a Digital Scanning Event, along with online activities, like Trivia Tuesdays. Aside from giving guided tours to visitors daily, our Guides would also organize Weekly Themed displays from our historical community, covering topics, such as, Ridley Hall, Sports and the NL Regiment.

We estimate that approximately 800 individuals have attended our Special Events alone.

Tourists & Visitors:

This summer has finally felt like a return to pre pandemic days. Our guides were very busy, and we have continued to be very busy since our students finished on Aug 26th.

We estimate that approximately 1000 people have visited our museum this summer (July 1st to Sept 20th). A fair number have visited from our area and province, along with many from across Canada (high numbers from Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia). We have also had very high numbers from across the United States, specifically:

Florida, Michigan, Vermont, Texas, Ohio, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Maryland, North Dakota, Massachusetts , Maine, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Washington, Tennessee, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Virginia, California, New York

And internationally, we have had visitors from:

England (many)                                France                                                  Australia (many)

Japan                                                   Scotland                                               Netherlands

Morocco                                               Caribbean                                             Ireland

Germany                                              Brazil                                                    China

We find that people are generally surprised when you mention where our visitors come from, so we are excited to share that information with you.

In addition, some of our visitors have left the following comments in our Guest Book:

  • Great Guides
  • Enjoyed the history and artifacts
  • Absolutely amazing
  • Great place here, Hr. Grace is my home
  • My descendants are from here
  • Awesome viewing, thanks for the great tour
  • We love the community events that you do
  • My relatives were born here in the 1860s
  • Thanks for such a fun and interesting tour

Partnerships:

We’re fortunate to partner with many groups from our area this past summer, including:

  • Town of Hr. Grace                              
  • HGCIB                                                 
  • Kite Festival                                         
  • Local Performers & Guests
  • Splash Centre
  • Pirates to Pilots Festival
  • Civic Events Committee                   
  • Tada Events, Terri Andrews

‘Digital Museums Canada’ Grant Update:

This museum funded project, Montreal based, began last Fall. Its titled, “Alone Among the Stars: Aviation in Harbour Grace, NL (1919 – Present).” It includes fifteen chapters, on topics such as, the Great Atlantic Air Race, Rescue of the Lady Peace, Amelia Earhart, Lease to the Royal Canadian Navy, the Parsons family, and much more. Through this online, digital platform, we tell the story of our town’s airstrip through written text, images, interviews and artifacts.

Happy to say we are nearing the finish line for this project. Our third deliverable was recently submitted. We anticipate making some edits in the next month or so, and it should be ready for release by mid November. We will send out an update when that happens.

Our Student Guides & Volunteers:

While our number of positions decreased this summer through the CSJ Program, our three Guides – Hannah White (Lead Guide), Sarah Sullivan and Jessica Pike performed great. We sincerely thank them for their hard work and commitment to the museum this summer. As well, there were a number of events when we needed to call on our Volunteers and community to assist, and we greatly appreciate the extra help and support. And a special thanks to the Town Staff for their help and support.

Approximate overall attendance this summer (July 1 – Sept 20) = 1800

If anyone has any questions or comments, please email the museum at conceptionbaymuseum@outlook.com

Thanks everyone for another great season at the Conception Bay Museum