It is too soon to predict overall 2010 tourism season outcomes, but early traffic numbers show that we are moving in the right direction, says Minister of Tourism and Culture Robert Vessey.
“We will have a better idea of tourism performance when complete July numbers are compiled as July and August are our two busiest months,” said Minister Vessey. “What we do know is that Prince Edward Island experienced one of the busiest July starts with events like the Canada Day celebrations, the Cavendish Beach Music Festival and LIVE! with Regis and Kelly. The overall June numbers do show strength with large increases in air traffic and a slight increase in bridge traffic compared to last year.”
Numbers indicate that room-nights-sold for June are up two per cent and occupancy is up almost three per cent. Early July numbers indicate that bridge traffic is up 8.4 per cent, while air traffic is up 6.3 per cent and ferry traffic is up 7.3 per cent. From January to July 2010, air traffic is up 5.7 per cent and bridge traffic is up 0.9 per cent, while ferry traffic is up 3.6 per cent.
“The Tourism Advisory Council (TAC) is focused on our season objectives for growth that we presented with Tourism PEI as part of the Tourism Plan 2010,” said Kevin Murphy, TAC Chair. “It is early for the tourism indicators to tell us our progress in terms of overnight stays. We are optimistic that the tourism industry operators are seeing some recovery over last year and we’re pleased with the tactics that Tourism PEI has been able to employ to begin to build those early July and September shoulder weeks.”
“Indicators show that traffic numbers for July 2010 are up over the same time period for the past number of years,” said Thom MacMillan, President of the Tourism Industry Association of Prince Edward Island (TIAPEI). “I suspect the additional investment in events and activities has proved to be a positive influence on this year’s tourism season. With festivals such as Fall Flavours and the Shellfish Festival coming up this fall our industry appears to be headed in the right direction.”
The Department of Tourism and Culture works with the tourism industry in reporting monthly reports. A compliancy rate of 95 per cent must be met by Island tourism operators before monthly reports can be made available for distribution. The complete July performance indicators will be available by the end of August or early September depending on compliancy rates.
To access the latest tourism indicators, please visit www.peitac.com or www.gov.pe.ca/tourism.