Tourism Nova Scotia gathers and reports tourism statistics on behalf of the tourism industry. Updated tourism statistics are now available at https://tourismns.ca/research/tourism-statistics. 

November 2020 Accommodations Activity

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to severely affect Nova Scotia’s fixed roof accommodation providers, with a decline of 42% in room nights sold in November (a difference of 74,000 room nights sold compared with November 2019). Despite the challenges facing the industry, the November losses confirm an ongoing improvement since May, when monthly room night sales were down 77% compared with the same period in 2019. Over the summer and fall, the size of the monthly decline has consistently narrowed, suggesting increasing interest and confidence in travel within the Atlantic bubble.

Between January 1 and November 30, 2020, 1,197,000 room nights were sold in Nova Scotia, a decline of 54% compared to the same period last year. 

November Non-resident Visitation

In November, 55,000 non-resident visitors came to Nova Scotia, a decline of 57% compared with November 2019. Most visitors arrived by road, with arrivals by air declining 84% in November 2020 compared with November 2019.

Atlantic Canadians accounted for the majority of visitors in November (47,500, or 87%); 12% came from other regions of Canada, and 1% were from US/overseas.   

More details, including accommodations information by region, sharing economy data, and enplanement statistics are available on our website.