How accurate are the tourism indicator reports?
While a par-for-the-course tourism season is welcomed news, ever wondered what factors make up the numbers in the provincial government’s monthly tourism indicators? “The monthly indicator reports are a collection of various traffic numbers that, when combined together, helps us paint a picture of what is happening,” explained Cheryl Paynter, CEO of Tourism P.E.I. For starters, Tourism P.E.I. requires a 95 per cent response rate from tourism accommodation providers and entry point locations. Also, on P.E.I., in order to operate a short-term accommodation, a provider must be licensed by the province. Part of that licence stipulates reporting to Tourism P.E.I. on a monthly basis describing the occupancy and the origin of the traffic. The number of rooms sold are then compiled into the indicator report for occupancy. They are not a guess, “they are an actual compilation,” Paynter added. This includes the accommodations available through platforms like Airbnb, fixed roof establishments and camp grounds. “Airbnb is a marketing platform, not a type of accommodation. So, if you hop onto the platform, you’ll find hotels, cottages, bed and breakfasts and then the image that people seem to have in their mind, of an apartment in a residential neighbourhood. So any short-term accommodations for revenue must be licensed.” Moving to traffic numbers, “Partially because we are an Island, you don’t get off or you don’t get on without us knowing about it,” she continued. There are four main points of entry: the Confederation Bridge, airplane, motor vehicle or ferries. But the tourism indicator reports also take into consideration traffic from cruise ships coming to and from Charlottetown. “These are actual traffic numbers. And they are a mix of Islanders to and fro and the offIsland visitation that we draw in.” By far, the Confederation Bridge brings the most traffic to the Island, visitors and Islanders. Through an agreement with the entry-point providers, Tourism P.E.I. is given information about the origin of the traffic (where the visitors are from). “As far as the visitor information centres go, those systems are ticker based, that keep track real-time if people come into the centre. Parks Canada have tickers as well as P.E.I. Heritage sites.” In addition to the monthly numbers, there is also a byweekly industry update call with representatives from the airport and accommodation reports to get a feel of what the temperature of the business weeks were and what they could look like in the future. Last year, 2017, marked the fourth record-breaking year for tourism, including the milestone of exceeding one million overnight stays on P.E.I. “We’re now into year five and we are plus/minus on par to traffic numbers. I don’t know if it will be record-breaking, but the numbers are [showing] tourism is a growing industry on P.E.I.,” added Paynter.