UNCORKING QUALITY, IT’S WHAT WE DO! GO NORTH TOURS
professionally, she was able to chaseé in the liquor industry as a sales representative for E & J Gallo Winery from 2001 to 2003. It was also at this time that Laila decided to head back to school to become a travel agent. It was as a travel agent in Winnipeg that she had the opportunity to work with a tour company from 2004 to 2008 guiding excursions to Churchill, Manitoba during the short Polar Bear season. It was during Laila’s time as a tour guide to the polar bears that this daughter of an entrepreneur was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug herself and got the idea that she would head to the East Coast where she could offer guided tours that didn’t involve 5 AMmornings and that she could operate for more than six weeks out of the year.
by Ryan Myson
L aila North has a conversation about her entre- preneurial journey and how she was able to merge her background as a professional ballet dancer, her deep knowledge of the wine and her tourism experience and create Go North Tours which was the first and currently longest running wine tour company in Nova Scotia. As we get a better understanding of the unique excur- sions, she offers those looking to explore Nova Scotia as a staycation or while visiting the province on vacation.
If you are like me, you are the one that usually does the driving when out exploring with family and friends. Don’t get me wrong, I like being the chauffeur however, as I am focusing on the driving unfortunately, I do not get to have the same experience as those that I am with. Well thanks to Laila North, owner, and professional tour guide, of Go North Tours there is a solution. You simply book a tour, and Laila will be happy to pick you and your group up in Halifax, Windsor or Wolfville so you can leave the driving and adventure up to her. Laila is used to being in the spotlight and performing for an audience as she was a professional ballet dancer in Toronto, and she still teaches ballet in the off season today. After deciding to stop dancing
So, you ask why the East Coast to start a tour company? Well, the answer is simple, Nova Scotia has something to offer tourists in every season making it much more feasible to operate a tour business given your window of opportunity for potential customers is much larger than six weeks as it was in Churchill, Manitoba. Interesting fact is that it was not until Laila arrived in Nova Scotia in 2008 that she learned about the emerging wine industry in the province. During her four years with E & J Gallo, Nova Scotia wines were not even a whisper in the wine industry.
23
22
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online