December 9, 1999
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)

The following statement was issued today by Charles J. Furey, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. It was also read in the House of Assembly:

I am pleased to confirm that, with our October and most of our November tourism performance numbers now in, we are still on track for non-resident visitation to top 400,000 for the first time ever. The final numbers cannot be calculated until year end, but with the usual strong Christmas season, we expect we will still meet our original forecast of approximately 400,000 people who will have visited the province by December 31, spending approximately $255 million. This will translate into growth in non-resident visitation of eight per cent over 1998 and 31 per cent since 1996.

This continued strength is good news for the province as it heads into the year 2000 and the Vikings!1000 Years: Make the Journey celebrations. The success of the travel/tourism industry in general, and the success of the accommodation sector specifically, can be attributed to a number of factors including a heightened awareness of the tourism product promoted by special celebrations and events such as Soiree '99 and the upcoming Vikings!1000, and the overall expanding economy fuelled in part by increased business travel.

This increase can be further viewed by specific modes of transportation which visitors use. For instance:

• Non-resident auto visitation increased by 10 per cent for the first 10 months of 1999.

• The number of passengers visiting the province by air charter is up by 14 per cent for the first 11 months and scheduled air passengers flying to the province is up by eight per cent for the first 10 months of 1999.

• Direct international arrivals at the St. John's airport have increased nine per cent for the first 11 months of 1999.

• Total airport activity at all major airports is up nine per cent for the first 10 months of 1999.

• Marine Atlantic's motor coach traffic from May-October is up by 18 per cent.

• Cruise ship activity increased 71 per cent during 1999.

• Car rental revenue at the St. John's Airport increased 11 per cent for the first 10 months of 1999.

Data provided by Pannell Kerr Forster in their report, Trends in the Canadian Hotel Industry, shows that the province's occupancy rate reached 69.6 per cent for the first nine months of 1999, an increase of 10 per cent over 1998 levels. In St. John's the occupancy rate reached 73.9 per cent for the January to September time period, an increase of 12 per cent over last year's level.

We are especially pleased with the figures released recently by Pannell Kerr Forster's report, regarding hotel occupancy rates. According to the report, Newfoundland and Labrador continues to lead the country in growth in hotel occupancy rates for the first nine months of 1999. Growth in occupancy levels was also seen in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, while the overall national rate dropped one per cent.

The increases in occupancy rates achieved in Atlantic Canada, Mr. Speaker, outpaced those achieved in the other regions of the country. Meanwhile, the growth in Newfoundland and Labrador's accommodations sector was 2.5 times greater than the growth experienced in Atlantic Canada, and 10 times that of the growth in the country as a whole.

Not only are we continuing to lead the country in growth in hotel occupancy levels, we are doing so at a time when the overall growth rate in Canada has dropped. This is a remarkable indicator of the tourism industry and the overall economic environment in the province.

Newfoundland and Labrador is a leader in this country as we enter the new millennium, and I am confident that the momentum will continue during Vikings!1000 years: Make the Journey.

1999 12 09 2:25 p.m.