Borden has been taking users of all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) from all over the world to various parts of the west coast for a number of years now.
In the past year, he’s even taken the likes of Dirt Trax, a major ATV media brand, as well as a couple of other Canadian off-roading media brands, out and around the west coast.
His most recent outing was a group of 10 from the UK who had never been to the province before.
However, taking groups out means he has to arrange to transport their ATVs from Corner Brook to another location and ATVers rarely see Corner Brook itself. That’s because there is no connecting trail from Corner Brook to Deer Lake, and Borden says, it’s costing the city plenty of potential cash.
This summer saw Borden arrange for over 60 ATV tours in Newfoundland, every one involving shipping the riders and their bikes through Corner Brook, to another destination.
Some riders, he says, get off the boat in Port-Aux-Basques, drive down to Corner Brook, and then arrange with him to have their ATV shipped past Corner Brook to Deer Lake.
It’s there, says Borden, or somewhere further east, where the tourist will pay to eat and spend the night.
He says that out-of-province ATVers come here prepared to spend money. He recently gave an ATV tour to 18 come-from-away riders. He asked them to track their spending, and in Corner Brook that day alone, they spent over $3000.
Borden says the city could see more money accumulate like this in their hospitality providers, restaurants and hotels, if the city developed a connective trail between the city and Deer Lake.
He says the city is the only place in both western and central Newfoundland that doesn’t have an accessible trail for off-roaders.
This means that not only is the city losing out on the benefits of outside tourists, but also from riders living in central, who might want to take the weekend to ride to Corner Brook and stay in the area.
Borden says the province is the next big thing in the off-roading industry.
“The big thing right now if you’re an adventure rider, anywhere in the world, is riding the Labrador highway,” says Borden. Adventure riding isn’t the same as off-roading, but with the recent attention Newfoundland is getting from groups like Dirt Traxx, it seems Newfoundland might soon be the to-do destination for ATVers, as well.
“When Dirt Trax was here, everyone was saying that Newfoundland was like the undiscovered next big thing.”
