You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this one out.... yes the bridge was up 7.8 per cent in August but it was down 22% in July... so a few more people changed their vacations around the weather but the recurring theme is our Tourism numbers are continuing to fall on PEI... there is very little traffic from the United States and my guess is that Americans are vacationing in their own Country where it's cheaper and they have far better service levels.... some of it could be blamed on Passport issues but recently I vacationed in the New England States and it was very busy.... there didn't seem to be any significant signs of a poor tourism economy happening there so I don't think it's all just economy... maybe our Tourism Department should abandon these high flying schemes like "The Big Break" that cost taxpayers over a million dollars with very little return and focus more on strategy and promotion directed towards families as opposed to golfers.... it’s time to get out of the "golf business" and get into the "Tourism promotion"....
Bridge traffic up, ferry traffic down in August
The Guardian
Visitors arriving on the Island via the bridge is up 7.8 per cent in August, according to Tourism officials.
There was an 8.7 per cent increase in overnight stays due mainly to campers. Room nights sold was down by 6.7 per cent while site nights sold to campers was up 48 per cent.
The air traffic was up 4.5 per cent while the ferry traffic in August was down 4.4 per cent.
A large percentage of visitors to Prince Edward Island are Canadians. The majority of those visitors arrive from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. Visitors from out west were strong in August.
“A combination of nice weather, Canada Games, Old Home Week and other tourism related activities and events brought visitors to P.E.I. in August,” said Tourism Minister Valerie Docherty.
“Nationally, it’s been a challenging time for the tourism industry. As a department, we recognize that while some indicators are up, others are down, and we will continue to work on solutions with industry to address these variations.”
Thursday, October 8, 2009
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Tim,
I agree with your perception. There will always be golf on the island and it doesn't have to be gov't run. You want to widen the circle of tourists and promote things for families, retired folks and singles as well as golfers. You saw how well run the Cavendish Beach concert went, so it can be done right. Offer things both big and small (i.e. festivals, concerts, restaurants, beach activities, tours, sporting events) and coordinate better among communities for event scheduling, so that everyone can benefit rather than competing with each other. I still think having some type of contest (maybe on the Internet) offering a week's accomodation on the island for a family up to 4 would generate a lot of interest, but they also need to say what the island has to offer, so that folks want to come even if they don't win. Keep the place in line till we come back.
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