The province’s tourism industry remains a key economic driver for Prince Edward Island despite global challenges facing the industry nationally, says Tourism and Culture Minister Robert Vessey.
“A number of factors – the economy, weather, and the strength of the Canadian dollar – all have an impact on our tourism industry,” said the minister. “However, tourism continues to be a strong industry on Prince Edward Island. We will continue to work with our industry partners to build awareness of Prince Edward Island and position the province as a world-class vacation destination.”
Numbers for June show that although traffic has decreased year-to-date, the total room-nights sold increased 6.1 per cent. Room-nights sold for hotels, motels and resorts, which represent the majority of fixed-roof units, increased by nearly nine per cent.
Wet weather, combined with high gas prices and economic challenges, saw bridge traffic decrease by 3.8 per cent year-to-date, while air traffic has decreased 4.1 per cent and ferry traffic has decreased 6.6 per cent. Cruise ship passage is up nearly 97 per cent over 2010.
“Last year was a terrific tourism season on Prince Edward Island. Although the province’s industry remains strong, these global factors are having an impact on tourism nationally and Prince Edward Island is not immune to these challenges,” said the minister. “As a government, we will continue to support industry initiatives to grow visitation.”
The Department of Tourism and Culture works with the tourism industry in collecting data for monthly tourism 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 full report is available at www.peitac.com or www.gov.pe.ca/tourism.