Tourism traffic down, but overnight stays steady

Statistics released by the P.E.I. government Thursday show that while traffic at the province's main entry points is down slightly, overnight stays has held steady in 2013 when compared to last year.

Total overnight stays are up slightly, 1.9%, due entirely to an increase in the number of people camping. Overnight stays at fixed roof accommodations is unchanged.

"We continue to hold our own in the face of stiff competition," said Tourism Minister Rob Henderson in a news release.

"Given that, we are satisfied with the numbers were seeing this year and we have plenty of reason to be optimistic about 2014.

Provincial historic sites continued their strong performance, with visitation up 11.7 per cent in September and 17.8 per cent for the year.

Airport marks two record months

While Confederation Bridge, Charlottetown Airport, and Northumberland Ferries were all down a little for the year, Charlottetown Airport is celebrating its best third quarter July to September on record.

"Both July and September were record travel months for the airport while August was only slightly lower than the record from 2008, said airport CEO Doug Newson in a news release.

Airport traffic was up 2.2 per cent for the quarter over 2012.