A busy July at the Confederation Bridge and a notable increase in traffic at Northumberland Ferries highlighted a stellar month for the tourism industry on Prince Edward Island, says Minister of Economic Development and Tourism Heath MacDonald.
“We are extremely pleased with the numbers from July, especially the very impressive statistics from our two vehicle entry points,” said Minister MacDonald. “Both June and July saw increases in most major categories compared to the same months last year, and we’re hearing very positive messages from industry on August performance. Given that, there is a lot of room for optimism in terms of how this year will compare to the record year we experienced in 2014.”
The Confederation Bridge saw an increase of 11 per cent this July compared to last. Northumberland Ferries was up 10.6 per cent. Both vehicle entry points are now tracking ahead of 2014’s year-to-date numbers.
Room nights sold were up 2.6 per cent compared to last July and site nights sold at local campgrounds were up 1.2 percent. All told, that resulted in a 2 percent increase in overnight stays compared to a very strong July in 2014. However, weak performance in the first five months of 2015 continues to drag year-to-date accommodation numbers down.
Motorcoach traffic continues to see major increases over 2014. July saw a 36.7 per cent increase. On the year motorcoach traffic is up almost 34 per cent.
The Charlottetown Airport saw a small decrease compared to last year’s record July. Passenger traffic decreased by 1.8 per cent, but it was still the fifth busiest month in the history of the airport.
Cruise ship traffic was also down, coming in at 11.3 per cent below last July. Non-member rounds at local golf courses decreased by 0.8 per cent.
Almost all provincial heritage sites saw small to large increases in traffic as did Green Gables House in Cavendish.
“We were very pleased to see a significant increase in visitation for July,” said the Executive Director of the Tourism Industry Association of Prince Edward Island Don Cudmore. “After discussions with many operators it appears August and September look good, and we are optimistic we have enough momentum to recover from the early decreases.”
To see the full report visit http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/current_tourism.pdf
Tourism is a vital industry in Prince Edward Island that provides over 7,000 full time equivalent jobs for Islanders. It accounts for approximately $400 million in economic activity each year and seven per cent of GDP, the highest percentage of any Canadian province.