March, April Stats Available

Visits to Nova Scotia between January and April are up six per cent compared with the same time last year as the province welcomed 447,000 visitors.

Room nights sold between January and April were up three per cent compared with the same months in 2009. Although results varied across the province, all regions saw increases between January and April with the exception of the South shore and Cape Breton regions, which stayed the same as 2009.

"We are encouraged to see that we're ahead of where we were last year although it is very early in the season to speculate on what the year will bring," said Percy Paris, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. "But we will continue to make the right decisions to support the tourism industry as it creates good jobs and grows the economy."

To the end of April, domestic travel showed growth of six per cent, even though visitors from Western Canada decreased by 15 per cent. Visits from Ontario improved by 12 per cent and those visiting from Atlantic Canada increased by seven per cent compared with this time last year.

The number of people travelling to Nova Scotia by road during the first four months of the year grew by nine per cent, while air travel stayed the same as 2009.

In the month of April, 138,000 people visited Nova Scotia, an increase of 11 per cent compared with April 2009. Road visitors increased by nine per cent while air travel is up by 16 per cent. Room nights sold jumped by two per cent, compared with April 2009.

In April, visits to novascotia.com increased by 27 per cent, following the launch of the 2010 tourism marketing campaign in key markets.

Nova Scotia's comprehensive system for reporting monthly tourism statistics includes counting non-resident overnight visitors at all entry points to the province and gathering the number of room nights sold from licensed accommodations operators.

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