Tourism Stats Say "UP"!

NS: Latest tourism statistics reveal rise in visitors
By Staff, Transcontinental Media

Source: The Daily Business Buzz, June 7, 2010

[HALIFAX, NS] - Visits to Nova Scotia between January and April are up six per cent compared with the same time last year as the province welcomed 447,000 visitors.

Room nights sold between January and April were up three per cent compared with the same months in 2009. Although results varied across the province, all regions saw increases between January and April with the exception of the South shore and Cape Breton regions, which stayed the same as 2009.

“We are encouraged to see that we’re ahead of where we were last year although it is very early in the season to speculate on what the year will bring,” said Percy Paris, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage.

To the end of April, domestic travel showed growth of six per cent, even though visitors from Western Canada decreased by 15 per cent. Visits from Ontario improved by 12 per cent and those visiting from Atlantic Canada increased by seven per cent compared with this time last year.

The number of people traveling to Nova Scotia by road during the first four months of the year grew by nine per cent, while air travel stayed the same as 2009.

In the month of April, 138,000 people visited Nova Scotia, an increase of 11 per cent compared with April 2009. Road visitors increased by nine per cent while air travel is up by 16 per cent. Room nights sold jumped by two per cent, compared with April 2009.

In April, visits to novascotia.com increased by 27 per cent, following the launch of the 2010 tourism marketing campaign in key markets.

Nova Scotia’s comprehensive system for reporting monthly tourism statistics includes counting non-resident overnight visitors at all entry points to the province and gathering the number of room nights sold from licensed accommodations operators.

Feds Fund Tourism Technology

NS: Feds invest more than $1M in tourism technology project
By Staff, Transcontinental Media

Source: The Daily Business Buzz, May 13, 2010

[HALIFAX, NS] — The tourism industry in Atlantic Canada will benefit from a renewed joint investment of more than $1 million from the federal government over the next three years to support the TourismTechnology.com program (also known as TT.com).

Established in 2000, the program is designed to encourage the adoption of technology within the tourism sector. It is the result of a partnership involving the Government of Canada, through ACOA, the four Atlantic provincial governments, and the four provincial tourism industry associations. The focus of the program is on education and helping tourism operators make well-informed decisions about their business practices and secure the significant business benefits tied to the increase use and integration of technology in their operations.

Over the next three years, the Government of Canada, through ACOA, is contributing $495,000 toward the project. The Atlantic provinces are contributing a total of $300,000, of which the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage is contributing $75,000. As well, the four provincial tourism industry associations are contributing a total of $261,000.

The TourismTechnology.com project employs four technology resource coordinators (TRC), one in each Atlantic Canada Tourism Industry Association office. Each TRC is trained to evaluate the existing online presence of a tourism business, and to create a checklist or strategy to help tourism operators move to the next level in technology adoption and online marketing practices.

“The TourismTechnology.com program is a great resource to help our tourism industry operators in Atlantic Canada understand new and changing technologies available, to bring more visitors to Atlantic Canada,” said Don Cudmore, Secretariat for TourismTechnology.com. “This program will ensure that our industry is keeping up with all the current and future consumer trends and we will be better prepared to move the tourism industry in Atlantic Canada forward to meet these new challenges.”