NLIS 2
January 7, 2004
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)

 

2003 tourism season on par with 2002

Tourism, Culture and Recreation Minister Paul Shelley today provided an overview of the 2003 tourism industry. Visitors and associated expenditures for the 2003 tourism season were on par with tourism growth in 2002. The province�s performance fared better than at the national level where a number of significant events impacted the number of tourists visiting the country.

"Newfoundland and Labrador has not suffered the direct, severe impacts of other regions caused by SARS, BSE, West Nile Virus, forest fires and the August power outage," said Minister Shelley. "The province has benefitted from the trend to increase domestic travel, with continuing strong response from target markets in Ontario and the Maritimes, improving airline traffic and a late-season surge of pent-up demand from last minute travelers. More residents also chose to stay and play in the province this past summer."

The province�s tourism performance for 2003 reflects that of the other Atlantic provinces and is ahead of the national tourism performance. Overall visitation for Newfoundland and Labrador reached par with 2002 by the end of the year. In comparison, the other Atlantic provinces are also tracking similar trends in visitation while Ontario is reporting a decline of five per cent.

Non-resident visitors and expenditures in 2003 matched statistics recorded in 2002, with 439,400 visitors and $300 million recorded. For the first 11 months of 2003, the province saw an increase in airline visitors which offset declines in auto and cruise visitors.

The introduction of additional low cost carriers, more domestic travel and new flight connections resulted in increased air passenger movements, from a decrease of eight per cent earlier in the year to an increase of five per cent for the same period in 2002. Specifically, St. John�s and Deer Lake airports reported increases of nine and 15 per cent respectively. Over the peak summer months, both airports are reporting increases in activity of 20 per cent.

The province�s natural heritage sites performed very well in 2003. Camping units registered at provincial parks showed an increase of 13 per cent over 2002 levels. Likewise, available data indicated that visitation at Cape St. Mary�s and Burnt Cape Ecological Reserves increased over last year.

"These increases can be attributed to more residents of Newfoundland and Labrador opting to be a tourist in their own province," said Minister Shelley. "Fewer residents exited the province by auto this year contributing to increases at these sites as well as some national and provincial historic sites."

The seven visitor information centres reported an overall decrease of eight per cent over the last year, however, visits were still six per cent higher than 2001 levels. Eastern Newfoundland centres in Clarenville, Whitbourne and Argentia reported increases while Notre Dame Junction, Port aux Basques, Deer Lake and North Sydney all reported decreases in activity.

Cruise activity indicated that the province received 77 port calls during the 2003 season, accounting for 20,351 passenger visits, down 20 per cent over last year. The number of port calls registered during 2003 was higher than the 69 recorded in 2001.

The outlook for the tourism industry in 2004 is expected to be positive. "There are several factors -which contribute to this positive outlook including an increased interest in Canadian destinations and strong economic growth," said Minister Shelley. "Newfoundland and Labrador will also see interest from the Society 2004: Year of the French which will celebrate 500 years of French presence in the province. French tradition is still felt from the shores of Labrador to the Port au Port Peninsula to La Scie to the Avalon. This will contribute to another exciting season of interesting events which will delight young and old alike."

For summary statistics on the province, including the travel and tourism industry, visit 
www.stats.gov.nl.ca/

Media contact: Tansy Mundon, Communications, (709) 729-0928

2004 01 07                                      12:15 p.m.


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