Wet weather, cost of living didn’t keep tourists away from Brant County this summer

The last full month of summer has been an “absolute bonanza” at Abigail’s Tea House in St. George.

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While the first two weeks of July were “relatively quiet,” owner Ivan White said that wasn’t the case for August.

Located about equidistant from Brantford and Cambridge, the tea house always counts on a percentage of business coming from out of town, White told The Spectator.

“St. George itself is way too small to (solely) support a business like ours,” he said about the tea house that specializes in English-style afternoon tea, with pastries and scones, served on elegant tableware.

But the summer months brought an uptick in reservations coming from the 416 and 905 area codes, “and even some from as far away as Oshawa and Pickering.”

While snow keeps customers away, White said the wet days this summer didn’t seem to have much of an effect. If anything, “the rain will probably drive them into our shop,” he said.

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Despite unseasonable levels of rain in July and the ballooning cost of living, Brant County businesses reported a solid summer season to The Spectator.

Brant County continues to grow as a tourist destination compared post-pandemic, with “approximately $30 million in visitor expenditures in 2023, to $22 million in 2019,” said Zach Gable, director of economic development and tourism for the county.

The county is still collecting data from this summer, but could confirm visitors from Toronto, Mississauga, Burlington, London, and Oakville stopped by the county’s visitor information center at The Paris Wincey Mills Co., a market and community hub.

A new publication showcases the “cultural experiences, culinary delights, and outdoor adventures” in the county, and staff are also working to “extend tourism into the shoulder seasons,” Gable said.

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At Flux Brewing Company in Scotland, about 20 minutes southwest of Brantford, there’s a year-round indoor taproom and two dog-friendly patios that overlook a peaceful pond and open fields.

In addition to the craft beer brewed on site, a shipping container kitchen dishes up a small, rotating food menu at the family-friendly spot.

With few places to stay in the village of Scotland, the majority of Flux’s customers are local, typically traveling from within an hour, said owner Jeremy Hansen.

Still, they do notice a considerable boost during the summer season.

Located close to the border of Norfolk County, Hansen said his sense is the brewery benefits from summer tourism in both counties.

“We look forward to the May long weekend, and then we really kick it into high gear probably right up until the last week of September, and then it tends to kind of cool off a little bit,” Hansen said.

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Something that has stood out this summer is customers are more conscious about spending, he said.

“Anybody running a restaurant right now is in tough,” Hansen said, pointing to the “astronomical” costs for just about everything.

While he said their kitchen has done “really well” this summer, they’ve had to strike a balance between providing an “elevated,” out-of-the-ordinary experience, while still ensuring it’s within a comfortable price range for guests.

In Caledonia, the Albin family has been showing visitors the Grand River by boat since the 1970s with their dinner cruises.

This year, in addition to the dining cruises they run from May to October, Blair Albin got the idea to offer a “River Talks” series, a partnership with Six Nations Tourism, hosting Indigenous speakers to give in-depth presentations about their culture.

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“I just thought we had a perfect facility here to do something like that,” Albin told The Spectator.

He also partnered with local breweries to offer a “River Sips” series that provided guests with tastings, entertainment, and a talk from local brewers.

Both series sold out.

Most guests who expect the Grand River Dinner Cruises come from within a two-hour drive, with the odd tour bus group, but “it’s definitely busier this year,” Albin said.

He credits an uptick in bookings in part to a visit from a social media influencer — “our phone went crazy,” after her post, Albin said.

But he said they were busy right from the start of the season.

“It has just generally been a really good summer for us,” he said.

Celeste Percy-Beauregard is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at the Hamilton Spectator. The initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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