July tourism numbers delay concerns industry

The executive director of the Tourism Industry Association of Prince Edward Island is voicing concerns about how long it's taking the province to release the July tourism indicators. 

Don Cudmore said, if released in a timely fashion, the indicators can show a trend, and allow the industry to react.

He said government needs to get the numbers out sooner, and tourism operators can help make that happen by sending in their information to government as soon as they can. 

"Clearly for May, June and July, they seem to be slower coming out," said Cudmore. "We know that there is quite a process. But anyway we wrote the province and said, 'Listen we need these numbers sooner than later and let's see if we can move them forward.'"

Tourism operators late filing: province

Cudmore said Tourism Minister Heath MacDonald told TIAPEI he intends to get the statistics out quicker than they have been in the past.

"It's difficult to be too critical but the reality is we need everybody to do a better job to get those numbers out because we do rely on them to try and understand what the traffic patterns are."

Government officials said they are still waiting for a few tourism operators to report before releasing the July numbers.

The province requires at least 95 per cent of operators to report to ensure accuracy.

Government officials said the occupancy returns for July were required by Aug. 10, but given the busy nature of the operations in the summer, some tourism owners were not able to file until later in the month.

Cudmore said the industry and the province need to work together to make sure the indicators are as as useful as possible.