Tourism Research Centre releases report on visitors to PEI

The Tourism Research Centre at UPEI is pleased to announce the release of its latest report using exit survey results collected from July 2007 to June 2008. This report groups visitors based on the activities they participated in while on PEI.

'We have divided our visitors into four groups based on what they did while on PEI,' said Dr. Sean Hennessey, Faculty Director of the TRC. 'We were able to make profiles for each group, and can look at, for example, what type of accommodation they choose, how much they spend, and how long they spend in PEI.'

Travel parties were segmented into four groups, those who came to visit friends and relatives (37 per cent of total travel parties), participated in outdoor activities (22 per cent), participated in cultural activities (20 per cent), and came for rest and relaxation (22 per cent).

Travel parties who came to visit friends and relatives had the lowest participation rates for the majority of activities included in the survey. These visitors spent the least amount of money in PEI. Although their visits were short, most were repeat visitors. Only about 22 per cent visited during the main season, July and August.

Those who visited PEI to take part in outdoor activities had the lowest average spending per-person-per-night but the second highest average spending per party per visit because they had the second longest average number of nights' stay in PEI (4.9). Most of this group were repeat visitors, second only to those who came to visit friends and relatives.

'Developing outdoor activities as tourism products would be best geared to middle-aged adults and families from our neighbouring provinces,' explained Dr. Hennessey. 'About two-thirds of travel parties participating predominantly in outdoor activities hailed from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia with an almost equal proportion being adult couples and families. Outdoor enthusiasts also displayed a greater tendency to stay in cabins, cottages, campgrounds or trailer parks.'

Despite their high participation in low-key activities such as sightseeing and driving tours, those coming for rest and relaxation should not be misconstrued as meaning this market does not spend money on tourism-related products. In fact, their per-person-per-night spending was the highest of all four clusters ($129.07). However, their stays on the Island were short (less than four nights) because they tended to make PEI a stop during a trip with multiple destinations. These travel parties tended to be comprised of two adults; almost 40 per cent were 55 years of age or more. These visitors were also more likely to stay in Charlottetown for the duration of their stay.

The largest proportion of travel parties interested predominantly in cultural activities came from Ontario (24 per cent). The remainder were fairly evenly distributed between New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec and the USA (13-15 per cent is the range for these jurisdictions). About half of all travel parties interested in cultural activities were adult couples, and about a third were families.

'Unlike the two kinds of inactive parties and those interested mainly in outdoor activities, only half of cultural enthusiasts were repeat visitors,' elaborated Dr. Hennessey. 'Since repeat visitors did not seem as interested in cultural activities, this may indicate a certain degree of saturation with existing cultural tourism products for repeat visitors. For example, while half of travel parties participating mostly in cultural activities visited within the last three years, almost 33 per cent had been to PEI five years ago or longer. This long-range trend is not apparent for the other groups to the same degree.'