Tourism Charlottetown layoffs part of restructuring

The president of Tourism Charlottetown Inc. says recent layoffs are connected to internal changes.

The whole direction of the organization is being discussed with funding partners, said Doug Newson.

A final decision should be known by the end of the month, he said.

Meanwhile, the organization will no longer manage high-risk special events, such as The Jack Frost Festival and Summerfest, said Newson.

As a result, four events staff were laid off last Friday.

"Over the past few years, I think the board has taken on too much risk and now this is basically the discussion that we've had recently is that we have to start moving away from these sorts of events," said Newson.

"And you know with that comes a reduction in staff, which is unfortunate, but it's just something that we had to do and start to plan what the next phase of this organization is going to look like."

P.E.I. Tourism Department officials said they were notified last Thursday the organization was issuing layoffs.