“The research being developed for the 2014 tourism season will provide the province and industry with a wealth of important information that will help guide marketing, promotional activities and investment moving forward,” said Minister Henderson. “It’s this research that provides a profile of the visitors who come here, why they come and what they do while they’re here. It helps business and government plan for the future and provides an analysis of the provincial investment in the tourism industry.”

The province began discussions with TIAPEI on a new agreement in the spring when the University of Prince Edward Island informed its partners that it would close the Tourism Research Centre (TRC) at the end of June.

The agreement will see the research agenda completed for this year using the same researchers and methodology to ensure the consistency of the data. Discussions on future research needs are now underway.

“We’re very happy that the province took proactive steps to ensure this research would be completed in such an important year for the tourism industry, and we are very happy to partner in the new agreement,” said Don Cudmore, Executive Director of TIAPEI. “Our industry depends on this research to help guide investment decisions, to provide a deeper analysis on what motivates visitors to come here and how much they spend while they’re on the Island. It’s invaluable information for the industry.”

The current agreement expires at the end of March, 2015. Discussions on a new plan for research are now underway.

Tourism is a vital industry in Prince Edward Island that provides over 7,000 full-time equivalent jobs for Islanders. It accounts for approximately $380 million in economic activity each year and seven percent of GDP, the highest percentage of any Canadian province.