Big names, few details in Liberals' Come Home Year plan

The Newfoundland and Labrador governmentlauncheda 2022 Come Home Yearcampaign Monday morning in St. John's, but Premier Andrew Fureyrevealed few details of theyearlong tourism drive to come.

The provincial government hopes the move will drum up tourism for a sector hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and encouragenewcomers to stick around for the long term.

In 2020, Newfoundland and Labrador saw 10.8 per cent oftourism businesses close for good, according a government media release citinga March report from federal government tourism agency Destination Canada.

"There's nothing that quite compares to coming home to Newfoundland and Labrador, and after what we've all been through over these last two years, we have certainly earned it," Fureysaid.

"Our tourism and hospitality sector has earned it, perhaps more than any other industry in our province. Their resilience during the pandemic is a testament to their strength and ingenuity of the people of this province."

The campaign will include $4 millionfor municipalities to organize events. Some of thatmoney $250,000 comes from the Municipal Come Home Year Celebration grant. Up to $2,000 will be provided for individual municipal applications and up to $2,500 will be available to each community for regional applications.

The rest $3.8 million comes from the provincial cultural economic development program.

Watch the full announcement:

"The message we want to send to everyone around the world is that we're open for business in 2022. We know there's a lot [of] expats out there across the country and around the world that are longing to come home," Furey told reporters at the kickoff.

"We want to welcome them home. We want to do so in a co-ordinated fashion."

In July the province announced $30 million in the 2021 budgetfor financial relief for tourism and hospitality operators who facedsubstantial sales losses due to the pandemic. That was on top of $13 millioncommitted for tourism marketing.

Star-studded committee

The volunteer host committee formed to provideinsight into special events and initiatives held throughout nextyear includes recognizable nameswith Liberal Party ties such as Heidi Bonnell,who worked as a communications director in the premier's office underBrian Tobin, former premier Dwight Ball and businessman Mark Dobbin, who was a major donor to Furey'sLiberal leadership campaign.

The 16 members, including campaign co-hosts Bonnell and television personality Rick Mercer, willprovideadvice to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation to develop andimplementevents and initiatives while acting as ambassadors to the province.

Rounding out the committee are Ball, actress Petrina Bromley, chef Jeremy Charles,Dobbin, musician Alan Doyle, Inuk classical singer Deantha Edmunds, Olympic curler Brad Gushue, actor Allan Hawco, Paralympian Liam Hickey, theatre director Jillian Keiley, tourism promoter Colleen Kennedy, film producer Paul Pope, Indigenous artist Charlene Rumboltand choral director Kellie Walsh.

The campaign also includes a new provincial licence plate to commemorate the year.Service N.L. Minister Sarah Stoodley said the plates will be available in early January and issued to anyone who buys a new vehicle in 2022 or needs a replacement plate. Some will be made available for purchase, Stoodley said.

The tourism industry providesabout $1 billion a year in economic revenue for Newfoundland and Labrador, said Furey, who saidthe Come Home Year campaign is needed to help get the industry back on its feet.

"It will be monumental, something that will earn its place etched in our collective memory of this dark period of our time," said Furey. "A bright light, a beacon of hope, to recognize when we all turned a page."

Read morefrom CBC Newfoundland and Labrador