For the first time in recent memory, all licensed roofed accommodations available for nightly booking on Prince Edward Island were full this past weekend, says Minister of Economic Development and Tourism Heath MacDonald.
“Between the Rock the Boat Festival in Tyne Valley, the Women’s Under 21 Fast Pitch Tournament in Summerside, a major soccer tournament in Hunter River, amazing weather and a long weekend, we ended up with the perfect storm,” said Minister MacDonald. “We did our best to help everyone looking for rooms, but by end of day both days our staff had exhausted all possibilities in terms of licensed accommodations. While I’m disappointed that we weren’t able to find a room for everyone, I’m ecstatic about the number of people who visited our Island this weekend.”
Typically the August long weekend is one of the season’s busiest on Prince Edward Island, but it has been at least a decade since all licensed, nightly accommodations were full.
“We always recommend making a reservation ahead of time, but it’s been many years since our Visitor Information Centre staff has had to turn people away,” said Provincial Manager of Visitor Services Heather Pollard. “By end of day both days there were no licensed rooms available on the Island.”
Book PEI is the province’s central reservation service. Staff at all provincial Visitor Information Centres have access to the site and can identify available rooms in real time. Staff closely monitored cancellations to match people with rooms that came open through the day, they searched kijiji for licensed accommodations that do not subscribe to Book PEI or advertise in the Visitors Guide, and they made calls to accommodations from one end of the Island to the other. But by end of day both days, all avenues had been exhausted.
“After speaking with operators and touring the Island over the last couple of weeks, I’m happy to say this is no real surprise,” said the Executive Director of the Tourism Industry Association of Prince Edward Island Don Cudmore. “Accommodation operators from one end of the Island to the other are very busy. We just had a record year in the tourism industry and it looks like that momentum has carried forward into 2015.”
To make a reservation or get information about visiting Prince Edward Island visit www.tourismpei.com or call our toll free number at 1-800-463-4PEI (4734).