The release today of the report "Economic Impact: Tourism 1999" confirmed that Prince Edward Island's tourism industry experienced strong performance in 1999 based on increased revenues, strong visitation numbers, longer stays and quality tourism experiences for visitors.
"Our industry has worked hard to maintain the increase in visitations which were achieved by the opening of Confederation Bridge in 1997," noted Kevin J. MacAdam, Minister of Fisheries and Tourism. "Our 1999 visitations remain stable and our revenue has increased by close to 5 per cent, bringing $302.6 million into the Island economy."
An economic impact survey is conducted annually and provides the industry with insights into the past season and reveals current trends through analysis of the numbers. This year, the survey indicated that, although the actual number of visitors was down by 1.6 per cent from 1998, visitors' expenditures rose 4.9 per cent. The increase is attributed to a smaller party size than previous years with a longer average length of stay.
"The strength of tourism in PEI has led to considerable growth in various sectors and is providing a very important boost to the Island economy," explained Mr. Gass, President of the Tourism Industry Association of Prince Edward Island. "Our sector provides significant jobs to Islanders and generates millions of tax dollars for health care, education, highway construction and much more."
Additional questions added to this year's study generated supplementary information as a base for measuring the satisfaction of visitors during their stay on Prince Edward Island. "The news was great! Visitors to the Island confirmed that they were very pleased with the quality of their vacation," noted Minister MacAdam. The additional information revealed 94 per cent were either very satisfied or satisfied with their experiences. "This satisfaction rate reflects the fact that the quality of stay here on Prince Edward Island is exceptional and may explain the extended length of stay for this year. Once tourists are here, they love it and stay. And with great experiences like that, visitors are more likely to return again and again," added the Minister.
This year, regional information has been broken out into fact sheets detailing information for each region based on the sample sizes captured. These fact sheets and the overall survey can be obtained through Island Information Service (902) 368-4000.