Tourism Research Centre releases new report on motor coach travel parties to PEI

The Tourism Research Centre in the School of Business at the University of Prince Edward Island is pleased to announce the release of a new report profiling motor coach visitors to P.E.I. This report is the result of surveys collected from motor coach visitors between July and December 2007.

'Although assumptions have been made about the motor coach industry in the past, this report gives us concrete data on who is arriving on these tours,' explained Dr. Sean Hennessey, Faculty Director of the TRC. 'As suspected, these visitors are older, tend to be retired, and are generally travelling in pairs of two. However, we now have more information on what they do while in P.E.I., how much they spend, and their overall evaluation of P.E.I.'

Those arriving on the tour buses were generally from the United States, with the few Canadians surveyed being from Ontario. The average length of stay for the 43 per cent of motor coach visitors who come in July or August was 2.25 nights, compared to 1.78 nights for those visiting during the off-season. This is significantly lower than the 4.15-night stays of non-motor coach visitors, particularly those from the U.S. (5.9 nights).

Motor coach visitors tended to have the cost of most activities included in their tour packages. The three most popular activities were visiting historical and cultural attractions, visiting an Anne of Green Gables attraction, and attending a theatrical performance. For those visiting during the off-season, rates of visiting Anne attractions and attending theatre were lower.

Excluding the cost of tours and elements included in packages (i.e., accommodations, meals, etc.), motor coach visitors spent $31 per person per night. The majority of this was spent on shopping ($25), followed by recreation and entertainment ($3).

'Based on the short stays and details given by survey participants, it can be concluded that motor coach visitors do not get to see a lot of P.E.I. ; generally they stick to the highlights,' stated Dr. Hennessey. 'If new itineraries are not offered, these visitors may be less inclined to return to P.E.I. Encouraging motor coach tour operators to offer different itineraries may mean that more of these visitors are inclined to book another trip to the same region. Different itineraries may also appeal to younger travel markets.'

More itineraries may lead to more motor coach visitors, both first-time and returning. If the additional itineraries result in even 20 per cent more motor coach parties visiting P.E.I. for the same number of nights as the current parties, an additional $300,720 in direct spending will result-- over and above indirect spending attributed to these visitors through the cost of the tour itself. The benefit of additional motor coach visitors will flow through to accommodation providers, restaurants and entertainment venues.

This report is available on the exit survey section of the TRC's website: www.trc.upei.ca/exitsurvey. More information about the report can be obtained from the Tourism Research Centre, School of Business, University of PEI, at (902) 566-6096 or trc@upei.ca.