Winter tourism strategy announced as Island operators mull how to move industry forward

The P.E.I. government unveiled the province's first-ever winter tourism strategy as Island operators met this week to plan for the future.

The government says the new strategy will help guide growth during the winter and shoulder season, and support year-round economic and business opportunities rather than just summer events.

In addition, the province is also extending its Tourism Seasonal Extension Program to February 2024. That program provides grants of between $2,500 and $50,000 for tourism operators to introduce new products outside the peak season.

"For 12 months of the year, we're going to be an active tourism destination across P.E.I.," said Brodie O'Keefe, director of operations and industry investment for Tourism P.E.I.

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"This model will help reduce seasonality in our labour force. So we're looking for more year-round employment, which is great for operators."

The announcement came as the Tourism Industry Association of P.E.I. (TIAPEI) wrapped up its two-day annual general meeting and conference Thursday.

More than 175 people in the industry attended the convention in Charlottetown. The goal was to learn what's important to people in the industry — and brainstorm on how to improve it moving forward. 

"This is our opportunity to create a new vision and a new strategy encompassing all of these things that we've learned," said Corryn Clemence, TIAPEI's chief executive officer.

'Really, really strong season'

First, there was the pandemic. Travel was limited and COVID-19 restrictions completely shut down businesses like Tranquility Cove Adventures in Georgetown, which offers deep-sea fishing adventures as well as clam digs and starfish hunts. 

Then came a 180.

"They started coming back slow and then all of a sudden somebody just opened the floodgates," said Tranquility Cove owner Perry Gotell.

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It all meant 2022 saw record-breaking tourism numbers on the Island. In some cases, it was so busy that businesses struggled to find enough workers to keep up. 

This year was much more conventional — despite the record-breaking rain. 

"We heard some concerns early on in the season, but overall it was a really, really strong season and we're really excited to move that forward," said Clemence.

"We would have been down a little bit, I believe, compared to last year, but really based on our 2019 numbers, we're still pacing ahead. We want to work with industry as much as we can," said Clemence.

Extending the season

The province's action plan was developed in partnership with TIAPEI and other industry players. Its goals include:

• Growing tourism activity between November and April without cannibalizing the peak season.
• Making P.E.I. a competitive destination by prioritizing funding in non-summer months. The strategy also calls for developing new food and drink products and helping create new visitor experiences, including Island-exclusive ones.
• Increasing awareness on target markets. That includes the launch of the Island's first-ever winter marketing campaign in December.
• Cultivating tourism ambassadors, and engaging residents so that they spend money locally instead of off-Island.

"As Islanders, we need to embrace the season, embrace winter as well, and go out and support our tourism products and let that word of mouth spread," O'Keefe said. "We got first-class trails for hiking and snowshoeing and cross-country skiing and fat biking.

"And we're Canada's Food Island. So we're a culinary destination."

The need to extend the season was one of the concerns operators told CBC News about before Thursday's announcement.

Darlene Harris, who operates a year-round business, said it would certainly help if others in the industry were still open, too. 

 'It would help,' operators say

"There is definitely a market for P.E.I. outside of the summertime," said Harris, the owner of Stones Throw Bed and Breakfast in Georgetown. 

"I need the restaurants to be open, I need the shops to be open. We have a beautiful area on the east side of the Island to explore the beaches you can walk. There's a lot of things that aren't seasonal."

But some still say it is just not busy enough. Derrick Hoare, proprietor of The Table Culinary Studio in New London, is open from about May until the end of September. 

"Obviously it would help if [the tourism season] was longer," he said, before adding: "Guests that are coming to us tend to slow down about mid-September. So October, really we haven't found it's enough traffic for us."

Gotell is interested in what's going on with advertising. He said most of his clients come from Ontario, so he wants to see the "dollars be directed in that direction" for a while. 

"I think we just have to get people's eyes opened a little bit more to see how special this place is," he said.