Come Home 2022 has been a huge success for the province of Newfoundland & Labrador, but the real winners are those who have had the privilege of touring this beauty of a province and meeting the incredible folks who dedicate themselves to delighting others.
One visit to any area of the province will leave folks saying; why did we stay where we’re to? We should have come where you’re at long ago.
“It’s been overwhelming, overwhelmingly positive,” says Premier Andrew Furey of Come Home 2022. Furey himself has been touring the province as much as possible himself too, he shared.
Exactly what NL needed
“It’s just been an incredibly joyous, happy occasion for communities throughout our province. Coming out of the pandemic, this is exactly what people needed. People celebrating life … all rallying around this call to come home. And I couldn’t be more proud with the results from this campaign,” he said.
From Regatta and Churchill Park Music Festival to Monster Trucks, George Street Festival, Tell Tale Harbor and Come From Away, Furey and team have been proudly supporting events held throughout the province. “This was exactly what the province needed right now. For decades, centuries even, we’ve had a history of festivals in towns and communities. Of concerts, arts festivals and more, but because of the pandemic these things mostly stopped. We needed an injection of enthusiasm to reinvigorate them and I think that Come Home Year 2022 did exactly that.”
Whether it was a large concert or a smaller gathering on an outport wharf, it’s been quite a summer to celebrate. The numbers speak for themselves, he said.
In auto traffic, the province is up 166 per cent from 2019 and growing. Travellers in general are up almost 300 per cent compared to 2021. “It’s special, it’s emotional and it’s economically beneficial at the end of the day as well,” Furey said.
Furey shared he figures he spent one weekend in his own bed this entire summer. “It was really nice to see the hope and optimism and the spirit of Newfoundland and Labrador on full display in many communities – all communities, frankly – around the province,” he said.
This has always been an incredible place to visit, he added. “It’s really more than just about one year. It’s about reinjecting enthusiasm and optimism … that will live beyond 2022.”
The premier says he has been so proud as he’s travelled around. “I’d like to thank everybody for being involved and for embracing (Come Home 2022). We were in communities that normally only have 100 people in it and to see it grow to 300 or 400 people in an afternoon to celebrate the culture of Newfoundland and Labrador … was just fantastic.