The Centre for Tourism Research (CTR) (formerly the Tourism Research Centre at the University of Prince Edward Island) has been conducting research on the tourism industry in PEI since 2006 and has produced numerous reports.

The CTR has managed the development and distribution of the PEI visitor exit survey since 2007 and has also conducted research on cruise ship and motor coach visitors, meetings and conventions delegates, and various festivals and events taking place in PEI.

Through its online research panels, the CTR has conducted research studies on various topics related to the tourism industry.

Some of the recent reports completed by the CTR can be found in our publications section, our highlighted reports are out exit surveys and our Volume and Value reports. 

For additional information, please contact at dyun@gov.pe.ca

Visitor exit surveys are a tool used by travel destinations to measure the impact of its visitors and to profile visitors to the destination. 

Exit surveys capture demographic and trip characteristics such as the ages of visitors, travel party size and composition, purpose of trip, regions visited and length of stay, type of accommodations used, activities participated in, expenditures, and trip evaluation.

In 2007, the CTR developed a new methodology for the PEI visitor exit survey which involves the distribution of the survey for a full year. That year, the survey was distributed from July 2007-June 2008. The survey was conducted for a full calendar year in 2012 and 2014 and will be conducted every three years going forward.

The survey is distributed to visitors as they depart PEI at its three exit points: the Northumberland Ferries Limited terminal in Wood Islands, the Confederation Bridge and the Charlottetown Airport.

The overall report and regional reports are provided in our publications section. 

2007-08 – Reports are available by request only.  Please contact dyun@gov.pe.ca.

The CTR compiles data on Prince Edward Island’s important tourism markets using PEI Visitor Exit Surveys, Travel Conversion Surveys, Provincial Occupancy Data, PEI Tourism Volume and Value Estimation and provides PEI’s major travel market profiles such as Maritime provinces (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia), Quebec, Ontario, New England (US region), and overseas.

The publications summarize the size of the market (visitation and expenditures) and trip characteristics such as the ages of visitors, travel party size and composition, travel month, entry and exit points, purpose of trip, regions visited and length of stay, type of accommodations used, activities participated in, and trip evaluation.

View the market profiles in our publications section.

PEI Visitor Volume

The visitor volume reports provide the estimated number of visitors to PEI each year.

The numbers are estimated using traffic data from the Confederation Bridge and Wood Islands ferry, air passenger data, and results from the PEI visitor exit survey.

Bridge, ferry and air passenger information is provided by Strait Crossing Development Inc., Northumberland Ferries Limited and the Charlottetown Airport Authority, respectively.

See the volume reports in our publications section.

PEI Tourism Expenditures

Tourism expenditures are an estimate of the total tourism-related expenditures by visitors to PEI and residents of PEI during a full calendar year.

Sales tax revenue data for the two main categories of expenditures, accommodations and food and beverage at restaurants, is the main source of data for the estimation.

The Provincial Occupancy Program, PEI Tourism Indicators, PEI visitor exit survey and reports from Statistics Canada are also used to compile the expenditures estimation.

See the expenditures reports in our publications section.

Destination Canada Weekly Resident Sentiment Survey

I Feel Safe to Travel

• Atlantic Canadian residents continue to be the most likely in the country to feel comfortable travelling within their province but comfort levels have been decreasing since mid-November.
  • 72% of Atlantic Canadians indicated they felt “somewhat” or “very” comfortable to travel to communities near them, down from a high of 89% during Nov. 10^th.
  • 58% of Atlantic Canadians indicated they felt “somewhat” or “very” comfortable to travel to communities within their province, down from a high of 86% during Nov. 3^rd.  
• Conversely, Atlantic Canadian residents are the most likely to be uncomfortable travelling to other provinces in Canada (14% indicated they were “somewhat” or “very” comfortable), the United States (6%), and internationally (5%).
  • Atlantic Canadians are significantly more likely to feel uncomfortable travelling outside their province when compared to residents from the rest of the country except for British Columbia. Albertans continue to be the most likely to feel comfortable travelling to other provinces in Canada at 40%.

Receptivity of Advertising

• Atlantic Canadian residents continue to report net levels of happiness to see advertisements promoting their community to visitors from communities nearby (+16) and within their own province (+10). That being said, these levels have significantly fallen from highs during Nov 3^rd of +48 and +49, respectively.
• Atlantic Canadian residents are the most likely in the country to be unhappy to see an advertisement promoting their community to Canadians from outside their province.

o   Only Quebec residents reported net positive levels of happiness to see advertisements promoting their community to Canadian residents outside of their province (+2).

Leger – Weekly Pandemic Tracker

• 56% of Atlantic Canadians indicated that they have changed their plans for the holiday season due to the COVID-19 situation. This is well below the Canadian average of 71%.
• Approximately 68% of Atlantic Canadians intend to be vaccinated once a Health Canada approved vaccine becomes available.

o   This was the second-highest rate in the country, behind British Columbia at 72%. The national average was 65%.

• Atlantic Canadians remain fearful of contracting COVID-19. Approximately 61% of Atlantic Canadian residents are likely to be personally “very” or “somewhat afraid” of contracting the virus. The national average is 60%.

o   There has been strong growth in the number of Canadians that believe we are in the worst period of the crisis now (45%).

• Approximately 78% of Atlantic Canadian residents stated they were satisfied with the measures put in place by the provincial governments to fight COVID-19. This is well above the national average of 60%.

o   Alberta residents reported the least satisfaction with their provincial government at 30% satisfied.  

Leger – Comfort with Activities

• Atlantic Canadian residents are currently less likely than the average Canadian to be comfortable with “flying on a plane” (26% vs 34%) and travelling to the United States (16% vs 24%).

Destination Canada Resident Sentiment Tracker – December 1, 2020

Leger’s Weekly Survey Report – December 1, 2020

Resident Sentiment Tracking December 1, 2020

Click HERE to View the English version

Click HERE to View the French version

Destination Canada has released an updated Visitor Demand Forecast (November), attached below. A couple key takeaways for your convenience:

• It will take longer than originally anticipated to return to 2019 tourism levels. Forecasts are stretching to 2026.
• If the national border is closed, Canadians travelling domestically instead of abroad will be key to offset losses.
• The domestic market is expected to recover by 2022 in all scenarios, this is good news for PEI. The US and other International visitors makeup approximately 10%-12%of our traditional market. This is contingent on COVID-19 remaining under control following the second wave.
• The Canadian economy as a whole is anticipated to rebound to 2019 level by mid-2021.

View full forecast, click HERE

Destination Canada Weekly COVID-19 Resident Sentiment

The current Weekly COVID-19 Resident Sentiment study was in market the week preceding January 05^th, 2021.  The study measures Canadian residents’ sentiments of travel including their level of comfort traveling and level of welcome towards visitors from various levels of geography. The following points summarize the results of the survey at a high level, and the full report is attached. 

I Feel Safe To Travel..

Across the country, sentiments of safety towards travelling and the level of welcome towards visitors has decreased or has not changed from the previous weekly resident sentiment results.  This trend appears to follow the number of new COVID-19 cases as Canada continues to experience rising cases in the current wave.  Long term trends in Canadians’ travel sentiments have been vulnerable to shifts as uncertainty and changing developments in the COVID-19 pandemic continue.

Atlantic Canadians, compared to other provinces in Canada, continue to report the highest levels of feeling safe to travel within their province

• 77% somewhat/strongly comfortable to travel to communities near me (down from a high of 89% in early November)
• 67% somewhat/strongly comfortable to travel to communities elsewhere in the province (down from a high of 86% in early November)

Atlantic Canadians, compared to other provinces in Canada, continue to report the lowest levels of feeling safe to travel to other provinces/territories in Canada and internationally.

• 14% somewhat/strongly comfortable to travel to other Provinces/Territories
• 5% somewhat/strongly comfortable to travel to the U.S.
• 5% somewhat/strongly comfortable to travel to other international destinations

For Atlantic Canadians, feelings of safety towards all travel destinations has not changed significantly from the previous study period, though feelings of safety towards travelling to other provinces, the U.S., and internationally have decreased.

Quebec and Ontario have both reported significantly lower levels of comfort travelling within their respective provinces compared to the previous study period.  Alberta is reporting significantly lower feelings of safety travelling to all Canadian destinations compared to the previous study period. 

In most provinces, rural residents tend to feel safer travelling to communities within their province that urban residents.  In Atlantic Canada, the sentiment is about the same between urban and rural residents.

Level of Welcome Towards Visitors..

Atlantic Canadians, compared to other provinces/territories in Canada, have the highest levels of welcome towards visitors from communities within their province.

• 70% somewhat/strongly welcoming to visitors travelling from “other communities near me” (down from a high of 81% in early September)
• 64% somewhat/strongly welcoming to visitors travelling from “other parts of my Province” (down from a high of 80% in late September).

Alternatively, Atlantic Canada has the lowest levels of welcome towards visitors from other provinces and internationally.  This may be an effect of the lower incidence of COVID-19 cases in their Atlantic Region compared to other parts of the country and internationally.

• 12% somewhat/strongly welcoming to visitors travelling from other Provinces/Territories (down from a high of 33% in early August).This represents a significant decrease from the previous study period (early December) where the level of welcome for visitors from other Provinces/Territories was 24%.
• 8% somewhat/strongly welcoming to visitors travelling from the U.S. (down from a high of 13% in early August and 12% in early December)
• 6% somewhat/strongly welcoming to visitors travelling from other international destinations (down from a high of 12% in early August and 10% in early December).

Alberta and Ontario both experienced significantly reduced levels of welcome to visitors from within their own Provinces in the current survey period.

Leger – Weekly North American Tracker

• Among the things that Canadians are most excited to do once COVID restrictions are relaxed, “take a vacation” ranked number two behind “see your friends and family members”.
• When a vaccine is approved by Health Canada and is available to the population, 71% of Canadians indicated that they intend to get the vaccine.A further 14% of Canadians were undecided.

o   Atlantic Canadians, along with residents of Saskatchewan and Manitoba, had the highest rate of intention to vaccinate at 78%

o   Vaccination intention rates among Canadians are higher than the previous study period and are trending upwards

• Atlantic Canadians remain fearful of contracting COVID-19. Approximately 67% of Atlantic Canadian residents are likely to be personally “very” or “somewhat afraid” of contracting the virus. The national average is 61%.
• 50% of Canadians feel that we are in the worst period of the COVID-19 crisis currently.This response is trending upwards, while the response of “the worst of the crisis is yet to come” is trending down.
• Atlantic Canadians are generally satisfied with measures put in place by government to fight the COVID-19 pandemic:

o   80% of Atlantic Canadians are satisfied with federal government measures

o   78% of Atlantic Canadians are satisfied with provincial government measures

o   73% Atlantic Canadians are satisfied with local or municipal government measures

Leger – Weekly North American Tracker

• Level of comfort towards activities is very closely in line with the previous study period.
• Atlantic Canadians are more comfortable than the average Canadian respondent with:

o   Shopping at the mall (ATL = 72%; CAN avg= 63%) (statistically significantly higher)

o   Allowing in-home renovations (ATL = 69%; CAN avg = 62%) (statistically significantly higher)

o   Dining-in at restaurants (ATL = 61%; CAN avg = 57%)

o   Going back to the workplace (ATL = 47%; CAN avg = 44%)

o   Attending large gatherings (ATL = 28% ; CAN avg = 24%)

• Atlantic Canadians are less comfortable than the average Canadian respondent with:

o   Going to the gym/fitness facilities (ATL = 21% ; CAN avg = 29%) (statistically significantly lower)

o   Travelling to the U.S. (ATL = 12% ; CAN avg = 21%)

o   Flying on an airplane (ATL = 28% ; CAN avg = 32%)

o   Using public transit (ATL =  21% ; CAN avg = 26%)

Click HERE to view Leger National weekly pandemic tracker Level of Comfort with Activities Jan 5 2021

Click HERE to view Leger’s Weekly Survey Report – January 5 2021

Click HERE to view Resident Sentiment Tracking – January 5 – Bilingual

Canada’s Business Events Restart Recovery Framework

In follow up to our research webinar on December 10th, 2020 we are pleased to share our in-depth report on Canada’s Business Events Restart Recovery Framework. This document, specifically created for Team Canada business events partners provides an update on the current impact on the business events industry and a forward look at recovery and restart, including:
• Business Events: State of the industry – an update on the impacts of covid-19 
• Insight from a global business events scan – summary findings from our recent research project where we heard from executive directors, planners, industry associations and Canadian partners that have informed how we prepare for a post      COVID-19 resumption of events
• Canada’s recovery restart framework – an evidence-based approach to track early signals of the resumption of business events in order to support planning and our industry deliver the right activities at the right time.

Click HERE For Partners Canada Restart Recovery Framework Report – English

Click HERE For Partners Canada Restart Recovery Framework Report – French

2021 Research Plan

Continuing our focus on providing detailed intelligence to our partners, our research plans for the upcoming year.

Click HERE for English

Click HERE for French

I Feel Safe to Travel

We continue to see fluctuations in the level of safety Canadians feel travelling. With the exception of Ontario residents, Canadians have reported minor improvements in the level of safety they feel travelling to Canadian destinations compared to January 5^th results.

When compared to other Canadian residents, Atlantic Canadians continue to be the most likely to feel comfortable travelling within their own province.

• 83% somewhat/strongly agree that they feel safe travelling to communities near them. Up from a low of 72% during the Dec. 1^st 2020 survey.
• 71% somewhat/strongly agree that they feel safe travelling to communities within their province. Up from a low of 58% during the Dec. 1^st 2020 survey.

When compared to other Canadian residents, Atlantic Canadians continue to be the most likely to feel uncomfortable travelling to other provinces or territories in Canada and internationally.

• 16% somewhat/strongly agree that they feel comfortable travelling to other Canadian provinces or territories.

             – Alberta residents are the most likely to feel comfortable travelling to other Canadian provinces or territories (46%).

• 4% somewhat/strongly agree that they feel comfortable travelling internationally.

             –  Alberta residents are the most likely to feel comfortable travelling internationally (22%).

Ad Receptivity

With the exception of Ontario, Canadians are reporting positive net levels of happiness when seeing advertisements promoting their community as a destination to locals within their own province. With the exception of Quebec, Canadians are reporting negative levels of happiness when seeing advertisements promoting their community as a destination to residents of other Canadian provinces and internationally.

Net Level of Happiness = total of very happy and happy – total of very unhappy and unhappy.

• Atlantic Canadians are the most likely in Canada to feel happy seeing their community promoted as a destination to communities near me (+52) and to other parts of their province (+36).
• Atlantic Canadians are the second most likely in Canada to feel unhappy seeing their community promoted as a destination to other parts of Canada (-28), behind only British Columbia residents (-33).

     – Note, while still negative Atlantic Canadians level of happiness seeing their community promoted as a destination to other parts Canada has improved from a low of -45 during December 1^st 2020 survey.

Click HERE to view full report