Friday, November 29, 2019
Nova Scotia welcomed 1,247,200 overnight visitors between June and September 2019, the peak summer tourism season. That is a decrease of five per cent compared with 2018.
Tourism Nova Scotia gathers and reports tourism statistics on behalf of the tourism industry. These statistics reflect the combined efforts of tourism businesses, organizations, communities, and governments, and include activities by both Nova Scotians and non-resident visitors.
The decline in visitation this summer follows several years of growth, with 262,500 more people visiting the province during this summer’s peak months compared with the summer of 2013, before the ONE Nova Scotia report called for an expansion of tourism.
This summer, tourism operators were impacted by factors such as Hurricane Dorian, the absence of the Yarmouth-Maine ferry and the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft.
Visitation by air declined by seven per cent, or 29,600 fewer visitors, compared with the summer of 2018. Visitation by road declined by four per cent or 33,000 fewer visitors, although the majority of the decline, 25,100 visitors, occurred in September, influenced by Hurricane Dorian.
Between June and September, licensed accommodations reported 1,370,700 room nights sold, a decrease of two per cent, or 29,300 room nights, compared with the same period in 2018. According to data from AirDNA, 298,400 room nights were booked through sharing economy platforms between June and September 2019, an increase of 35 per cent or 77,000 room nights.
Statistics for the month of September are now available at www.tourismns.ca/tourismstatistics