Hotel owners and tourism operators on Prince Edward Island needed a busy season this year, and they’re getting one.
After the pandemic all but shut down tourism for two years, the industry is having a banner year.
The most recent numbers from Tourism PEI show both indoor and outdoor accommodation bookings were up in June, compared to the same time in 2019.
That’s significant because June is ahead of the traditional tourist season on P.E.I. — July and August.
“I think we have a lot of people that have been from further out, maybe Ontario, into the U.S. and Quebec,” said Corryn Clemence, CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of PEI. “Those people have been waiting for their chance to come and have planned it, and they came earlier than normal this year.”
Growing the tourism shoulder season has long been a goal for the industry.
“I remember a time when it was basically eight weeks in the summer,” said Dee Enright, director of sales and marketing for Rodd Hotels and Resorts. “It started at Canada Day and ended at Labour Day, and that’s just not the case anymore.”
And it seems, for this year at least, to be working. Bookings remain strong into the early fall.
“We opened earlier at the resorts this year in May, and we’re staying open later, and we’d like to, as I say, expand that to year-round,” said Enright. “I think P.E.I. as a whole is seeing that the government’s promoting year-round and winter.”
The biggest group booking accommodations on P.E.I. in June were actually islanders, more than one-third according to data from the province. That’s a sign staycations are still a popular trend, while pandemic uncertainty remains.
The signs are pointing to a nearly complete industry recovery in terms of demand, though some businesses are still on unsure footing after two bad seasons.
“Really start to be that meaningful contributor to the economy again, as an industry,” said Clemence. “We saw those two really tough years where business was restricted, so now we’re getting back into that swing of being one of those top economic impacts here on the island.”
Tourism stands, alongside farming and fishing, as one of P.E.I.’s economic pillars and its quick recovery is good news for islanders who rely on it to make their living.
