September 28, 2018
Visitation to Nova Scotia was down 3% in the month of July compared with July 2017, at approximately 387,600 non-resident visitors.
Air visits were up 3% compared to last July for a total of 113,900 visitors. We love to see this growth because air travellers tend to spend more while visiting, which means more tourism revenue. Visitation to Nova Scotia by road for July 2018 declined 5%.
Licensed room nights sold decreased by 5%. The decline in room nights sold was observed across the province, with the exception of Yarmouth & Acadian Shores, which saw growth of 7%.
Available data shows that Canada and many of its provinces and territories are experiencing modest non-resident visitation growth, and in some cases a decline in visitation.
Year-to-date July 2018, Nova Scotia welcomed 1,256,500 non-resident overnight visitors, an increase of 1% compared with 2017. Air visitation is up by 7%, while road visitation has declined by 2%.
Canada 150 contributed to an exceptional year of tourism growth in 2017; comparing July 2018 visitation to the same period in 2016, visitation remains strong, up 6%, or an increase of approximately 21,000 visitors over 2016.
For full monthly tourism results and historical data, see Tourism Performance.
Please note that as of July 2018, Tourism Nova Scotia has restated the estimated room nights booked through a sharing economy platform. Previously reported numbers included both room nights sold and total room nights available in active listings. The data has been restated to solely reflect room nights booked during the month. The restated estimates are available in the July 2018 Tourism Indicators report on our Current Tourism Activity page.
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