The summer tourism season is coming to an end and retailers are taking stock of what was a busy year for some. They are also preparing for what they hope will be a busy fall.
“We’ve been here for 27 years and we’ve seen such an incredible increase in tourism for us this summer,” says Moncton retailer Steve Clerke, who hired additional staff and extended business hours due to a boost in shoppers.
Bruce Dougan, general manager of the Magnetic Hill Zoo, says the warm summer weather enticed both area residents and tourists to the zoo this year.
“Summer has been great this year,” says Dougan. “We had a record year last year and this year has been pretty much on par with what our numbers were for last year.”
Despite Dougan’s luck, statistics provided by the New Brunswick government show there was a slight drop in tourism numbers, but not by much.
New Brunswick experienced a one per cent drop in visitors from last year, while visitors to Prince Edward Island dropped by 7.5 per cent. Nova Scotia was the only Maritime province to see an increase, where numbers were up by three per cent.
Clerke says the provincial numbers will likely improve once figures for August are included, and the traditional fall tourism season begins.
“So far September has been very strong,” he says. “We’ve had a lot of our fall foliage tours come in, and again, people from the States, but we’ve seen a lot of Europeans this year.”
Clerke says summer business is usually a good indicator of what to expect at Christmas and he says things are looking good for that season too.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Jonathan MacInnis
