Jack Frost Children's Winterfest a boon for hotel room sales

Organizers of the Jack Frost Children's Winterfest say attendance at the three-day event last weekend was up only slightly over last year, but the real gains were made in the sale of hotel packages and total room sales.

The festival attracted 6,633 people, a four-per-cent increase compared to last year.

Organizers say if it wasn't for the mild weather and rain on Sunday, the numbers would likely have been higher.

Craig Jones is the president of the Hotel Association of P.E.I., the group that helped organize the festival.

He said 42 per cent of the hotel packages booked were by people from New Brunswick, while 38 per cent were from Nova Scotia.

"Hotel packages were up 20 per cent over 2015," Jones said.

"We sold 332 hotel packages, which is amazing, and the big thing is total room nights was up even more. We were 37 per cent up over 2015. We sold 870 room nights. So for a weekend in February, that is fantastic."