The Go North Tour brand officially became a company in January of 2009. The focus of the brand was to offer tourists the opportunity to see the many wonders that the province had to offer with the vision of becoming the premier company offering quality tours of the region specifically Peggy’s Cove and what was then a relatively new Annapolis Valley wine region. Peggy’s Cove was an easy sell as it is known worldwide as a tourist destination for those coming to Nova Scotia. The wine industry, well that was a different story. At that time, the wine industry was just starting to blossom, so Laila added these tours not knowing what might happen with the industry, but it be these wine tours that would eventually become the main focus of the company. In the beginning many wine enthusiasts were not sure or even under- stood what wine from Nova Scotia was all about, and it had a bad reputation, as Laila said, “There was a story that needed to be told and I was going to tell it.”
“Therewas a story that needed to be told and I was going to tell it.”
As mentioned in the beginning when Laila first started the company not a lot was known about Nova Scotia wines or the industry. So, a major challenge for her and the brand was to start edu- cating not only tourists coming to Nova Scotia but many of the hotels and those in the hospi- tality industry about what was happening in the Annapolis Valley wine region and wine industry in the province in general. Laila was able to convince them to allow her to display brochures so she could promote her Go North Tours to those visiting the area. The second major chal- lenge was getting the locals on board, as back in the 70’s and 80’s Nova Scotia wine was con- sidered cheap and low quality which is no longer the case today. Laila is quick to acknowledge the success of her business is truly because of
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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021
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