For many Maritimers, the May long weekend is the annual kick-off to the summer season, but those planning a road trip will have to budget a few extra dollars for fuel.
Gas prices in Nova Scotia rose Friday to a minimum of $1.32.1 per litre, an overnight increase of 2.7 cents per litre.
"I have a company and you have to have it, you have to have gas. If they charged $5 a litre, you still got to have it." said one Halifax resident at the pumps.
The start of a long weekend is only one factor for the latest hike.
"A major change-over that occurs this time of year, when gasoline goes from winter gasoline to summer gasoline, so you have those kinds of restrictions from refineries," explains Bill Simpkins of the Canadian Fuels Association.
These days, there are not a lot of differences in prices across the Maritime provinces.
"The Atlantic provinces, in particular, the only difference would be in provincial taxation," says Simpkins.
Nova Scotia's provincial government sets the minimum and maximum prices based on the New York harbour price. Petroleum is a commodity that's traded in U.S. dollars, so a strong U.S. dollar pushes up Canadian prices.
The increased gas prices also affect the region’s tourism industry.
"We're getting closer to the level where we would enact a fuel surcharge, but so far, we're not there yet. We've budgeted properly for somewhat of an increase," says Dennis Campbell, CEO of Ambassatours.
Campbell says in his experience, a big jump in gas prices may have a short-term impact on tourism, but eventually people want to go out and enjoy the summer. Last summer was a record breaking tourism season in Nova Scotia, and Campbell says he expects a similar result this summer.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Ron Shaw.
