Press Release: International Trails Day and Tourism Week 2022
Posted on Thursday June 02, 2022
June 2, 2022
ST. JOHNS – The East Coast Trail Celebrates June 4th International Trails Day and Tourism Week. “Come for the hike and stay for the party.”
Come hike with us on June 4 to celebrate International Trails Day, Tourism Week and the East Coast Trail. Since 2000, on International Trails Day (first Saturday in June), the East Coast Trail Association has hosted our annual fundraising hike at a community along the trail. The Trail Raiser “Community Hike” is an opportunity for each of us to get involved, embrace the trail and help raise the funds needed to maintain and protect the ECT.
What to expect: great hiking, awesome coastline, lunch, live music, and 300+ hikers moving to the music of Youngtree & Carol Bee… we’re having a party! Join us for the celebration at Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s this Saturday. Don’t delay, Register today! Visit eastcoasttrail.news/TRCH22 to register.
This year we are celebrating a major ECT milestone: the official opening of the 52 km section of the East Coast Trail between Cape St. Francis and Topsail Beach marking the completion of the ECT between Topsail Beach, CBS and Cappahayden on the Southern Shore. 28 years in the making, 25 fully constructed, connected pathways providing a continuous 336 km coastal hiking experience that is second to none in the world.
There is something magical about being outdoors on the East Coast Trail: fresh air, birds singing, whales breaching, icebergs, moving along a trail inspired and calmed by the raw natural beauty of our coastline – there’s nothing quite like it. International Trails Day is the perfect opportunity to get out there with the people you love and give back to East Coast Trail that brings us all together. It offers the opportunity for you to connect with the people near you who share your love of being outside, building your local hiking community and joining a worldwide movement to give back to the trails and make sure everyone can enjoy the outdoors.
The Trail Raiser is a fun, worthwhile event to help us raise the funds needed to take care of the trail. Many hands make light work and individual donations of $5, $10, and $20 quickly add up and make a difference. If you love the trail, you believe in what we are doing, or you simply love the value it is adding to our communities. Please take a few minutes to “register today” or if you can’t join us “donate today”, every dollar counts; it is as easy as 1-2-3.
Why we need a dedicated day celebrating trail: Trails are important to the public at large in every country, as well as, our rural economies, tourism and the well-being of our people. Trails do the following:
- Trails allow people to enjoy and access nature.
- Trails provide visitors with insights of culture and history.
- Trails get people active and outdoors doing physical activities.
- Trails connect people to each other, themselves and their community.
- Trails can literally change the world.
Make a pledge today and commit to leaving the East Coast Trail and our outdoor community better than you found it. Help us build a trail community engaged in advocacy and trail service. Here are a few easy ways to fulfill your pledge:
- Tell your MHA and MP how much you value the ECT and encourage them to pass legislation supporting trails.
- Commit to taking a trash bag with you whenever you hike or go for a walk.
- Commit to trail service in 2022, sign up for a volunteer maintenance outing this year.
- Keep yourself healthy, keep others safe, and work with us to preserve and protect the ECT for today and future generations.
- Give a gift: register and come hike with us on June 4th, or become a member, or donate today, or all three to help us maintain the trail.
This week is also Tourism Week in Canada and the perfect opportunity for us to recognize and celebrate this awesome gift we call the East Coast Trail. The trail combines the very best we have to offer – our natural, cultural, historic, and community assets – together with the raw natural beauty of our coastline, creating a unique tourist destination that is second to none in the world. Did you know that the home of the ECT, the Avalon Peninsula, was identified as the #1 Coastline in the world by National Geographic Traveller magazine, that the ECT is the #1 Attraction on the Avalon (TCAR Exit Survey), and according to Hospital Newfoundland & Labrador is the #1 Motivator for overseas travel to Newfoundland (HNL Tourism Times).
Show us why the East Coast Trail is important to you! This week we encourage you to share your photos and stories on social media, also like and share other’s posts within your community. Let’s all work together and spread the word that the East Coast Trail is important to you, your community, your business, and NL Tourism Industry! Don’t forget to use #EastCoastTrail, #ECTLove, #HikeNL, #ExploreNL, #TourismMatters, and #TourismWeek. Happy Tourism Week!
The combination of International Trails Day and Tourism Week provides an opportunity for our governments, politicians, and institutions to understand and recognize how important trails are to the world, to health, to wellbeing and to economies. Trail awareness helps us all realize trails require ongoing investment, maintenance, preservation, and love. And in the end trails are a global heritage that touches on spirituality, our physical and mental wellbeing, and human happiness.
“The ECTA wishes to thank our municipal, provincial and federal government partners, as well as all our volunteers, members, landowners, residents, community groups, staff, and our individual and corporate donors, for helping us to achieve this major milestone,” said Randy Murphy, ECTA President. “The Trail has become a provincial treasure of which we can all be proud. What seemed to be an impossible dream in 1994, the creation of a world-class, hiking trail along the eastern edge of the Avalon has been realized. Thank you all for helping to make this dream a reality.”
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About East Coast Trail
The East Coast Trail (ECT) is a 336 km market-ready, pedestrian, coastal trail that runs along the eastern edge of the Avalon Peninsula between Topsail Beach and Cappahayden. The East Coast Trail Association is a member-based, volunteer-driven and managed registered charity. The Association’s mission is to develop, maintain, enhance and protect the ECT for today and future generations while respecting the integrity of our natural environment, the needs of our communities and delivering a high-quality wilderness hiking experience.
The Trail Raiser “Community Hike” is our annual fundraiser. The 2022 event is scheduled to take place at the Town of Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s on Saturday June 4th. The guest speakers for this event are:
- Steve Crocker, Minister Tourism, Culture, Arts & Recreation
- Ken McDonald, MP Avalon
- Lazaro Cosma, President ExxonMobil Canada, Event Sponsor
- Carol McDonald, Mayor Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s, Community Sponsor
- Robert Seymour, The Outfitters, Adventure Sponsor
To arrange an interview, please contact:
Julia Penney
Business Manager, ECTA
julia.penney@eastcoasttrail.com
(t) 709-738-4453 (c) 709-325-7284