Week the Women Went TV series brings big spike to Colchester website activity
TATAMAGOUCHE –Train Station Inn owner Jimmie LeFresne knew there would be some positive spinoffs for Tatamagouche tourism once the Week the Women Went Season Two aired.
But, the reaction he received following the debut of the documentary-reality series on CBC Jan. 21 left him stunned and unprepared.
“I was shocked,” said LeFresne. “Before the show was even over in Saskatoon, at about 10:30 p.m. I received a phone call from a couple wanting to book a room.”
LeFresne, also the area’s county councillor, and his unique inn were featured in Episode 1 of the series, demonstrating how he and a few male friends coped following the departure of all the female staff sent on vacation to a resort for a week of pampering.
By 8 a.m. the morning after the premiere episode aired, the innkeeper began receiving a steady stream of phone calls from people wanting reservations, former customers offering congratulations and a New Brunswick-based tourism company wanting to book a bus tour to the region.
“I was expecting a reaction but nowhere near this,” said LeFresne. “Obviously it has opened up a whole new market for us here.”
Traffic on the inn’s Internet website also skyrocketed abnormally high for this time of the year while the business is closed for the season.
The show will air on CBC nights at 8 p.m. for the next seven weeks. It will feature many couples in the village who will share intimate details of their lives as some of the men take on nontraditional roles in the family, attempting to find a balance between caring for children and the home mixed with work and volunteer commitments.
Websites designed to provide tourist information about the region and the village also experienced a spike in traffic.
Devin Trefry, marketing co-ordinator for the Central Nova Tourist Association, said on Jan. 21, the number of daily visitors on their website jumped 162 per cent above average.
“I would say that is a fairly significant number,” said Trefry. “It’s definitely getting a positive tourism reaction.”
The average number of daily hits on the association’s website, www.centralnovascotia.com, is 167 but the night the show aired, that number climbed to 271, the highest number of visits for any day so far in 2009.
“Clearly there is some kind of trend there,” said Trefry.
The website www.tatamagouche.com was revamped in anticipation of the show’s launch and during the past eight days has received more than 1,700 hits.
Trefry puts that number in perspective by saying, “during the entire month of December there were about 1,000 hits.
He is anticipating tourism interest in the area will grow even higher as the series unfolds during the next few weeks.
Source: The Truro Daily News (Sherry Martell)