Tourism P.E.I. having trouble marketing due to Atlantic bubble bust

The province's tourism marketing department is trying to figure out how to best advertise to tourists without knowing if they will be able to come to P.E.I. due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Last summer with no one allowed here from outside Atlantic Canada the province stopped advertising to the rest of the country.

Instead some money was diverted to a campaign aimed at getting people to P.E.I. from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia in the winter, says Brenda Gallant, marketing director for Tourism P.E.I.

The department was getting ready to buy ads to roll out online, on radio and TV — but when the Atlantic bubble closed that was put on hold, Gallant said.

"We just keep moving that date forward a little bit. So we don't have any more insight than anyone else, because it really is driven by the COVID situation," Gallant said.

Ads have been booked, and then cancelled, multiple times, she said.

"The key to marketing is to remain extremely flexible, and that has never been more true than in the past year."

It's all made planning a spring marketing campaign a challenge too.

Tourism P.E.I. normally starts advertising around Canada and internationally in March in hopes of luring tourists here in the summer.

This year, it's delaying that advertising, and aiming to spend more of its $4 million ad budget within this region because another Atlantic bubble this summer seems most likely, said Gallant.

"We don't like to have any ads that are specifically asking people to come to P.E.I. when our borders are closed," she said.

"But when we see things getting close to opening up, it's a good opportunity to get a reminder out there, to tell them, when the time is right, we'd like to welcome you back."

Gallant said her department still wants to be ready to advertise beyond the region too in the event Canada-wide travel does open up suddenly.

"It's just a combination of things we're working on, and we definitely have to be ready for all scenarios. So marketing goes on. And if anything there's more marketing than ever that's been prepared, both in 2020 and 2021," she said.

On top of uncertainty on whether there will be an Atlantic bubble in the near future, visits by cruise ships to Canada have been banned until 2022.

All these factors have created more stress and extra work within the marketing department, but Gallant said it's crucial advertising is done to help Island tourism operators gain as much business as possible.

More from CBC P.E.I.