Statistics all show that tourism is up on The Rock

ST. JOHN’S—HVS statistics for the first two months of 2009 show that hotel occupancy in Newfoundland was up 29.1 per cent in February, and 14.5 per cent when January and February stats are combined.
 
The latest PKF statistics aren’t quite so dramatic—their report shows that Newfoundland occupancy rose by 2.5 per cent year to date in January and February.  Newfoundland and Saskatchewan were the only provinces that showed an increase in occupancy over last year’s figures. 

Figures from Destination St. John’s, the provincial capital’s DMO, show numbers similar to those of PKF.

“The East Coast Music Awards and the Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador conference could have caused that large an increase for Corner Brook,” said Steve Sparkes, who is a partner in the Comfort Inn St. John’s Airport, Comfort Inn Gander and Quality Inn, Edmundston, NB.

“Newfoundland is not really feeling the effects of the international downturn,” he said. “The economy is buoyant due to offshore oil and megaprojects such as the Valley Inco smelter project, which broke ground recently.  We have more exploration offshore than in the past.

“We are optimistic,” Sparkes noted, adding that the wild card will be the impact of the leisure market the province counts on from Central Canada and the U.S.—areas which have been hard hit by the downturn.

Certainly, St. John’s has been trending upward in recent years.  The city saw a 50 per cent increase in room supply, from 1,300 to 2,000 rooms between 2000 and 2007, with no significant drop in occupancy.  Sparkes credits a dramatic growth in the meeting and convention traffic in a market which is “unique, wonderful and different.”