News release

November Tourism Stats Available

Tourism, Culture and Heritage (Dec. 2003 - Jan. 2011)

The province welcomed 1,960,500 visitors to the end of November -- a three per cent decrease, or about 66,000 fewer visitors, compared with the same period of 2007. The number of room nights sold increased by one per cent to keep the industry on track to match last year's revenues of $1.33 billion.

"In these challenging times, our tourism industry did well to match revenues with 2007," said Tourism, Culture and Heritage Minister Bill Dooks. "With our plans for 2009 in place, we'll continue to work closely with our partners to make our industry stronger and more capable of weathering global economic uncertainty."

In November, there was a five per cent decrease in overall visitors compared with the same month last year. Decreases were noted in all markets, with visits from Atlantic Canada and Ontario dropping most significantly.

Room nights sold decreased by two per cent compared with last November to 158,000. Increases were noted in the Eastern Shore, Northumberland Shore, and Yarmouth and Acadian Shores regions.

The number of people travelling to Nova Scotia by road decreased by two per cent, and visits by air decreased by 12 per cent for the month of November.

Cruise activity continued to be a bright spot for Nova Scotia in 2008. Activity was up 29 per cent with 228,000 visitors at the Port of Halifax in 2008, and 76,000 visitors at the Port of Sydney, a 107 per cent increase. The cruise industry brought an estimated $38 million in direct expenditures to Nova Scotia's tourism industry. Cruise passengers are same-day visitors, so are not included in overall visitor numbers.

Nova Scotia's comprehensive system for reporting tourism statistics includes counting overnight visitors, excluding Nova Scotia residents, at all entry points to the province. The number of room nights sold is gathered from all licensed Nova Scotia accommodation operators.

Detailed tourism statistics can be found on the Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage website at www.gov.ns.ca/tch/pubs/insights .