Investment in houseboat business is an investment in tourism - MLA
Published Friday August 7th, 2009
There are days it's tough to be in politics, but for Tobique-Mactaquac MP Mike Allen and New Brunswick Finance Minister Greg Byrne, showing up for Thursday's Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency funding announcement was a pleasant bit of political business.
Larry and Cynthia Jewett, who accepted $152,500 from the federal agency for their Lakeway Houseboat Vacations business in Mactaquac, fired up the engine in luxury houseboat and gave the two politicians and a group of local tourism representatives a tour around Eagle Cove.
Courtesy of the federal funding, which the couple will match with its own capital and investor cash, two houseboats will be constructed. The first one will be built at a facility in Keswick Ridge and be ready for next year with another to follow after that.
The Jewetts have already used a prior ACOA investment of $111,000 to kick-start their business venture and modernize the Mactaquac Marine Inc. marina and double its berth capacity. The Jewetts will use their newest ACOA cash to add kayak rentals and expand the houseboat business.
Allen said the fact that ACOA is making a second contribution after doing the due diligence on the business shows the Jewetts are on the right track.
"Not only is the government in the game, but there's private investment capital that realizes there's return on this type of investment," Allen said. "We'll look forward to seeing the next versions of the fleet on the headpond."
Byrne was equally as enthusiastic about the early success of Lakeway Houseboat Vacations, which was one of three finalists for the Tourist Industry Association of Canada's New Business of the Year Award in 2008.
"Our waterways are some of our greatest provincial assets. Tourists are looking for a family vacation that brings with it the beauty of the water systems and the tranquility and I'm not surprised you've had the success you've had to date," Byrne said.
"What it does is it showcases our water system. Tourists who have had a positive experience here will go and tell others."
As the Jewetts contemplate expanding their business, they're also exploring the idea of building and selling houseboats, and Byrne sees potential to create jobs and opportunities for local workers.
The couple's first houseboat was a used one that it retrofitted for its own use. It then thought about renting it on the side.
As he thought about the rental option, Larry Jewett said he did more research and found out that the houseboat rental business was 25 years old in places such as Shuswap Lake, B.C., but relatively unknown in Eastern Canada.
Jewett said he learned that the key to renting houseboats is an ideal lake.
"That's a lake that's not too wide so that it's protected from the wind with deep waters so that novice boaters don't need to follow maps very often and all that type of stuff and an accessible marina and a shoreline that's not built up with housing.
"You need little spots to pull up and tie up and be out on your houseboat enjoying nature," Jewett said.
Above Mactaquac, where the St. John River widens, it's the equivalent of a placid, calm lake and there are plenty of inlets, curves and coves that are undeveloped or even government-owned that afford snug spots to tie up a houseboat close to shore for an overnight sleep, he said.
With Mactaquac Provincial Park, Woolastook Park, Kings Landing Historical Settlement and a number of sheltered spots to spot wildlife, waterfalls and fall colours, Jewett said the houseboat business seemed like a viable, long-term proposition.
"There was some risk involved in the project. We'd never built a boat before. We needed to find out if we could produce a boat at reasonable cost and make a business case for a houseboat vacation business," Jewett said.
At the same time, taking over the lease on the Mactaquac marina allowed the Jewetts to have a home for their houseboat rentals and expand the marina.
"A lot of credit goes to ACOA and the province. Without the marina, we couldn't do this," he said.
To learn more about Lakeway Houseboat Vacations, visit www.lakewayhouseboats.com.
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And no, I don't know them. In fact I had never heard of them nor the marina until this article. I'm just a New Brunswicker who likes to see fellow NB's do well thru their hard work.