June tourism numbers up on P.E.I.

P.E.I.'s tourism industry continues to be strong, government statistics from the month of June suggest.

Total overnight stays in June were at the highest level since 2005, increasing by 9.8 per cent compared with 2015. The occupancy rate was 41.6 per cent, up 3.3 per cent from last June.

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Hotel stays were up in all regions except Summerside and North Cape.

Many of the tourists are golfers. The number of non-member rounds was up 5.8 per cent over last June, and up 22 per cent for the year so far.

Visitors to P.E.I. National Park and Green Gables are also up.

Air traffic up

Many of the visitors are arriving by air, up 15 per cent from last June and almost 20 per cent for the year.

With one of the Northumberland ferries out of commission, traffic from Wood Islands was down almost seven per cent.

The number of visitors from the U.S. is up, as well as travellers from Ontario and Quebec.

'Dollar playing a part'

"The Canadian dollar is playing a part in this, but I think more people are staying within Canada to do their travelling this year," said Heath MacDonald, minister of Economic Development and Tourism.

"So we're not just benefiting from the U.S. travel coming here, we're also benefiting from Canadians travelling within Canada, so it's good."

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