TRC survey details visitors' comments about P.E.I.
The Tourism Research Centre at UPEI has released its latest report using exit survey results collected from July 2007 to June 2008.
The report provides a summary of comments from visitors to P.E.I. The comments were solicited through two open-ended questions. The first asked if the visitor experienced any problems that would impact their decision to return to P.E.I. or to recommend it to others. The second allowed the visitor to provide general comments.
The comments from both questions were categorized into ten general areas: food and beverage, service, accommodations, prices and taxes on goods and services, transportation, seasonal/daily closures, environmental concerns, parks, attractions and other comments. The negative comments in these categories focused on two themes: the expense of visiting P.E.I., and a perceived discrepancy between the cost of goods and services and the quality received in return for the cost. Specifically, visitors commented on the costs associated with bridge and ferry tolls, National Park entrance fees, taxes, gas, accommodations, meals and attractions.
The feedback provided also shows that visitors are very impressed with the natural beauty of P.E.I., the friendliness of the people, and Islanders' pride of place. In addition, some of the comments that may be perceived as negative are actually suggestions for improvement or are simple observations that may not reflect the reality of life in P.E.I. (for example, P.E.I. needs to have famous brands and products outlet stores for shoppers). Some of the comments also related to matters that are beyond the control of tourism industry operators such as road conditions, taxes, road signs and P.E.I.'s natural environment.
'The report highlights areas where many visitors feel improvements can be made that will improve P.E.I.'s tourism product, and areas where the province excels,' explained Dr. Sean Hennessey, Faculty Director of the TRC.
The report also offers a breakdown of the comments by various market segments. It shows that the largest percentage of comments came from visitors from the U.S. and international countries. Visitors from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, P.E.I.'s largest visitor market, made the fewest comments. First-time visitors were much more likely to make a comment than returning visitors. A demographic profile reveals that those most likely to make a comment were males; those who were retired, married, aged 55 and over; those with a post graduate/professional designation; and those with an annual household income above $125,000.
Overall, visitors rated P.E.I. very highly. Quality of accommodations, restaurants, transportation and customer service in general received the highest number of comments but were each rated above 4 out of 5. The price of goods and services was rated lower (3.56), but visitors agreed that they had received good value for their money (4.17 out of 5). Perhaps most importantly, visitors agreed that they would visit P.E.I. again and recommend the province to others as a travel destination.
'In general, information in the form of actual comments from consumers can be as valuable as statistical data,' said Dr. Hennessey. 'Visitors' views and opinions provide us with information that is over and above the numeric results provided elsewhere in the exit survey, and in the numerous reports released by the TRC that profile visitors and their views of PEI as a tourist destination. This is valuable information for all tourism stakeholders.'
This report is available at www.upei.ca/business/trc. More information about the report can be obtained from the Tourism Research Centre, School of Business, UPEI, at (902) 566-6096 or trc@upei.ca.
UPEI students bring a taste of Canada to students in Spain and France
Three UPEI students are bringing the English language and a taste of Canadian culture to elementary, secondary and language students in Spain and France in 2009-2010.
UPEI student Darrah Richardson of Hunter River won a highly sought after lectorship last spring from the Spanish Embassy to work in Andalucía, Spain, as a language and culture assistant. She is teaching English to students in grades 6 to 12.
Richardson, who is studying Spanish, is the first UPEI student to receive one of these lectorships. Competition is stiff, with students from across Canada and the United States competing for only 1,200 vacancies.
This position is ideal for Richardson. 'I have a passion for the Spanish language,' she says, adding that she would like to get her degree in the language. 'And I like teaching and working with people.'
While she is sharing the English language and Canadian culture with her students, she is also immersed in the culture and language of Spain.
'There is a big difference between learning Spanish in the classroom in Canada and learning it in Spain,' she said. 'In Spain you hear it (Spanish) everywhere and every day, and you have to use it. The best way to learn is to immerse yourself in the language and culture.'
UPEI graduates Caitlin Brown of Richmond and Anthony Scott of Cornwall are working as language and culture assistants in France through CIEP, a public organization based in France that focuses on education and languages. Among other things, CIEP promotes the French language abroad and the teaching of foreign languages in France.
Brown and Scott, both of whom majored in French at UPEI, are helping high school students in Orleans and Roanne respectively to learn English. While they are both fluent in French, they see their time in France as an opportunity to improve their French even more and to gain new cultural and life experiences.
Dr. Doreley Coll, chair of UPEI's Modern Languages department, is proud of the success of the university's language students in competing for international positions.
'The value of an international experience for university students cannot be overestimated. Participation in these programs gives our students an experience in learning and life that they will never forget and will share with fellow Canadian students when they come back."
For more information about these programs, please contact the UPEI Modern Languages department at (902) 566-0480.
UPEI receives accessibility award from City of Charlottetown
UPEI recently received an accessibility award from the City of Charlottetown for improvements to the campus that benefit people who have disabilities. Displaying the award are President Wade MacLauchlan; student Paul Cudmore, a member of the university's Access-Ability Committee; and Joanne McCabe, chair of the committee. UPEI is among five organizations that received accessibility awards during the City's second annual Accessibility and Inclusion Awards ceremony, recognizing community members who are making a difference in the lives of persons with disabilities.
Institute of Island Studies hosts research symposium on November 30
The public is invited to attend a research symposium about Prince Edward Island and the Chiloe Islands, off the coast of Chile, in the Main Building Faculty Lounge at UPEI on Monday, November 30, from 2-4:30 p.m.
Entitled 'We are People of the Island,' the symposium is hosted by the Institute of Island Studies at UPEI. The featured speaker is anthropologist Manuel Munoz, Williche Council of Chiefs and ARCIS-Patagonia University, Chiloe Islands, who will speak about the culture and cosmology of the Williche people.
Other presentations will include: Introduction to Island Studies in Chiloe and PEI, and Social and cultural microenterprise on Chiloe, by Dr Irene Novaczek; Traditional knowledge of seaplants for food and medicine by Williche and Mi'kmaq peoples, by Dolores LeVangie; and Attitudes of indigenous youth to marine resources, fisheries and aquaculture: Chiloe and PEI, by Abigail Vasquez. All three presenters are with the Institute of Island Studies at UPEI.
Refreshments will be served. The symposium is sponsored by the Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network, the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, and the Faculty of Arts, UPEI.
UPEI builds on its research expertise with new Canada Research Chairs
The University of Prince Edward Island expanded its expertise in the areas of education and epidemiology with the addition of two Canada Research Chairs (CRC).
Dr. Crawford Revie, CRC in Population Health: Epi-informatics, uses tools of informatics - hardware, software, databases, and other methods of storing large and complex sets of data - to help answer questions about how diseases spread through populations. He's currently tackling a problem that affects salmon farms in Atlantic Canada: drug resistance among sea lice.
'Sea lice have a tremendous ability to adapt to the treatments salmon farmers use to control them,' explains Dr. Revie. 'By collecting data and finding new ways to sort through it, we can predict when they might develop a tolerance. We can help the aquaculture industry deal with a problem before they even know they have one.'
Dr. Kate Tilleczek, CRC in Child/Youth Cultures and Transitions, is examining the cultures and experiences of Canada's young people in comparison with children and youth around the world and at different times in history. She's now completing a major study for the Ontario Ministry of Education about why and how students may stumble as they make the transition from elementary to secondary school. She is launching a further study on youth mental health in schools.
'We've followed a group of students in as diverse locations as downtown Toronto, and from remote fly-in communities in the far north, and everything in-between,' says Dr. Tilleczek. 'For many students, high school is a chance to start fresh, but for many it's so overwhelming a change that we lose them. We're trying to find out why, and what can be done about it.'
'Two of our strongest areas in research are now stronger,' says Dr. Schultz, UPEI's Vice President of Research and Development. 'The Canada Research Chair in Population Health: Epi-informatics boosts our already globally recognized centre of veterinary epidemiology at Atlantic Veterinary College. Our chair in Child/Youth Culture and Transitions advances knowledge in key aspects of human development and health. Both chairs bring significant benefits to work with our many and diverse communicates and we are proud that these research leaders extend our existing research excellence.'
The Canada Research Chairs program is part of a national strategy to make Canada one of the world's top countries in research and development. UPEI is proud to be home to seven Canada Research Chairs.
UPEI partnerships make powerful impact at home and abroad
The University of Prince Edward Island, through its community and institutional partnerships across PEI, throughout Atlantic Canada, and around the world, is building a strong foundation for a 21st-century success story.
UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan delivered that message during his annual update, on November 26, to the campus community and members of the public. Through an illustrated presentation that featured a map of PEI and a map of the world, he highlighted the powerful impact that UPEI, with its many collaborators, makes at home and abroad through education, research, and service.
'UPEI's advantage of scale and sense of mission translate into big things for our province, our region, and our world,' said President MacLauchlan. 'If you ask experts around the world about aquatic epidemiology, they will tell you about UPEI. The Premier of Nunavut will tell you about the array of UPEI projects and partnerships in Canada's North. Our work in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and elsewhere addresses important issues of community, health, and environment, and builds on a confident sense of who we are at home.'
In addition to shining the spotlight on innovative UPEI-related initiatives across PEI and beyond, President MacLauchlan presented information about the continued growth of student enrollment and research activity that conveyed the increasingly diverse and dynamic nature of the UPEI community. Twenty per cent of first-year students now come from other Canadian provinces and 10 per cent of the total student population comes from outside Canada.
While focusing firmly on UPEI's pivotal role in the present and future prosperity of Prince Edward Island, President MacLauchlan also acknowledged the important influence of the University's historical development.
'UPEI raised its own flag this year, embracing the heritage of our founding institutions, Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan's University, and celebrating how we come together through learning, as symbolized by the open book. Knowing who you are, how you are differentiated, and what difference you make starts at home,' he said.
'We get up in the morning knowing the importance of what we do, and the difference that it makes to have a great university with a sense of place and mission. That happy sense of purpose and impact carries over into our work and relationships throughout Canada and around the world.'
UPEI is developing an extensive database that includes many of its projects and collaborations across PEI and around the world. To learn more about how UPEI is making an impact, providing opportunity and leadership, and generating successful outcomes, visit universityisland.ca. To view details of President MacLauchlan's University Update 2009, please click here.
Research on Tap: An evening of public discussions with UPEI researchers
The cold wind blows. The long winter night creeps in. What better way to chase away the winter doldrums than an evening of ideas, discussion, and good cheer?
When: Tuesday, December 1, 7 p.m.
Where: Mavor's, Confederation Centre of the Arts
Who: Dr. Joe Velaidum, Chair of the Department of Religious Studies, Director of the Centre for Christianity in Culture
Discussion: 'The same old arguments of the new atheism movement'
Velaidum says the problem with the proponents of this new brand of atheism, made popular by best-selling authors such as Richard Dawkins("The God Delusion"), is that they 'don't understand religion. They don't understand faith, or Christianity. They even misunderstand science.' But what role does religion play in modern society -- something to think about as Christmas draws near, 'a holiday that's had most of its religious themes stripped away.'
Sound interesting? Join us. Contact Dave Atkinson, Research Communications Officer, at (902) 620-5117 or datkinson@upei.ca
UPEI’s Centre for Education Research hosts public event December 4
The public is invited to attend the launch of a documentary video and the opening of a photography exhibition about UPEI's Master of Education in Leadership in Learning program in Nunavut.
The event takes place on Friday, December 4, at 4 p.m., in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium and Schurman Market Square, Don and Marion McDougall Hall.
During a special Convocation in Iqaluit on July 1, 2009, 21 Inuit educational leaders from across Nunavut graduated with Master of Education Leadership in Learning degrees from UPEI-the first graduate degree program to be offered in Nunavut. Most of the graduates were mature students already working as leaders in their communities. Participants studied part-time over three years through face-to-face courses in Iqaluit and Rankin Inlet combined with online learning.
The program balanced western and Inuit knowledge of education and educational leadership. It was developed and delivered through a unique partnership between the University of Prince Edward Island, Nunavut Department of Education, Nunavut Arctic College, and St. Francis Xavier University.
The graduates' learning is recorded in a documentary video, Lighting the Qulliq: The First Master of Education Program in Nunavut, produced by well-known Canadian filmmaker and director Mark Sandiford. Aspects of their lives as educational leaders are documented through photographs taken by renowned photographer Carlos Reyes-Manzo.
Fiona Walton and Sandy MacAuley, both members of the UPEI Faculty of Education, and Nunia Qanatsiaq, a graduate of the program, will discuss research conducted in the MEd program and speak about the complexities of engaging in ethically based, reciprocally negotiated research within the MEd in Nunavut.
Sandiford will launch the documentary video, and Qanatsiaq will open the exhibition.
This event is hosted by the UPEI Centre for Education Research. For information, please contact Christine Gordon-Manley at (902) 566-6784 or cgmanley@upei.ca
TRC releases report about travel motivations of visitors to P.E.I.
The Tourism Research Centre at UPEI has released a report that categorizes pleasure visitors based on the primary reasons for their trip to P.E.I.
Based on results from the 2007/2008 exit survey, the report profiles visitors by six reasons for travel, including holidays/vacations; short getaways; visiting friends and/or relatives; visiting second home, cottage, condo; attending events, festivals and attractions; and for other pleasure.
The largest percentage of travel parties (38 per cent) visited P.E.I. for a holiday or vacation. This group had the highest prevalence of families and first-time visitors, and tended to visit less frequently than other travel parties. Visitors in this group were most likely to have included P.E.I. as a stop on a larger trip, perhaps one that encompassed the Maritime provinces. They were most likely to have visited in the main season and to have stayed in paid accommodations. These travel parties had the highest participation levels in nine of the 16 activities listed in the survey.
Twenty-one per cent of travel parties came to P.E.I. to visit friends and/or relatives. These travellers spent 81 per cent of their total trip nights with family and friends. As a result, this group had the lowest spending per person per night at $66. Compared to the other groups, those visiting friends/relatives were more likely to visit P.E.I. during the winter, most likely during Christmas and winter breaks. This group spent most of their total nights in Charlottetown (42 per cent), the highest of any group. Participation in typical tourist activities was among the lowest of all groups.
'This is an aging group of Maritime travellers who come to PEI frequently on short visits, spending little money on tourism products while here,' says Dr. Sean Hennessey, Faculty Director of the TRC. 'Given that nearly all have been to P.E.I. previously, the challenge will be to identify new activities for these travel parties to engage in while spending time in P.E.I.'
Fifteen per cent of travel parties came to P.E.I. for 'other pleasure' which includes, among others, sporting events and tournaments, particularly during the winter months. This group reported the highest spending per person per night at $139. They spent more on restaurants, vehicle operation and transportation, and other expenditures than any other group. This group had one of the highest representations of minors at 23 per cent, suggesting travel may have been motivated by participation in various sporting events by these younger visitors. More than the other segments, this group spent a greater proportion of their nights in hotels, motels and resorts (48 per cent) and in Summerside (20 per cent of total nights).
A short getaway was the primary reason for visiting P.E.I. for 15 per cent of travel parties. As the name suggests, this group stayed the fewest nights in P.E.I. (2.4). However, despite their short stays, they spent $128 per person per night, the second highest of all groups. About 35 per cent of these visitors were aged 35 to 54, the greatest representation of this age group. Similar to those visiting to holiday and vacation, this group participated in a variety of activities while in PEI.
Six per cent of travel parties visited P.E.I. to attend events, festivals and attractions. Not surprising, this group spent the most money on recreation and entertainment, compared to the other groups. These visitors were most likely to come from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and consisted of the highest prevalence of three or more adults travelling together. This group also consisted of the highest percentage of visitors aged 18 to 34 (36 per cent). Due to the nature of their visit, participation levels for attending festivals and events (56 per cent) and attending live theatre and plays (48 per cent), were highest for these visitors.
Less than five percent of travel parties came to P.E.I. to visit their second homes, cottages or condominiums. This group had the highest rate of repeat visitation (99.8 per cent), visited most frequently (20 trips in five years), and stayed the longest (10.2 nights). They spent the least on recreation and entertainment and the most on food and beverages from stores, car rentals and shopping. This group was most likely to consist of two adults (57 per cent), adults aged 55 and over (52 per cent), and only a few families (12 per cent). Spring was the most popular season for their arrival, in contrast to all other groups.
'Visitors come to P.E.I. for a variety of reasons, and this report allows us to compare the travel characteristics and behaviours of travel parties based on the reason for their visit,' said Dr. Hennessey. 'Despite their different travel motivations, however, all respondents rated their experience in P.E.I. very favourably, suggesting that the province provides a consistent tourism product that caters well to visitors with varying priorities.'
This report is available on the exit survey section of the TRC's website. More information can be obtained from the Tourism Research Centre, School of Business, University of PEI, at (902) 566-6096 or trc@upei.ca
UPEI business students collect food for Upper Room Food Bank
In the spirit of giving, business students at the University of Prince Edward Island recently donated over 600 non-perishable food items and $150 to the Upper Room Food Bank.
In mid-November the UPEI Business Society issued a challenge to the undergraduate students in each year, the Master of Business Administration students and the faculty at the School of Business to a competition to collect non-perishable food for the food bank.
From November 16-30, six large boxes-one for each of the four classes, one for MBA students and one for the faculty-were set up in Bill and Marion McDougall Hall, to collect donations. The MBA students won the challenge, collecting about 230 items for the food bank. They also asked the business society to donate $150-the dollar value of their prize-to the food bank.
