UPEI's Tourism Research Centre releases study on visitor party composition

The Tourism Research Centre (TRC) at UPEI’s School of Business today announced the release of a report profiling PEI visitors by travel party type. This is the ninth report released based on data collected during the main season (June 27 to September 30) in 2007.

“The Exit Survey was designed so results can be structured to look at our visitors in many different lights,” explains Dr. Sean Hennessey, Faculty Director of the TRC. “There are a multitude of ways of categorizing our visitors. In this case, we are focusing on the make-up of the numerous travel parties, and specifically who is in the travel group. A group of multiple adults travelling together have very different interests and spending habits than, for example, a family with young children.”

The results presented in the report are for pleasure visitors who spent at least one night on PEI during the period June 27 to September 30. As they exited PEI during this period, visitors completed a total of 3,173 surveys. In terms of statistical accuracy, a sample of this size has a very small sampling error of only 1.8 per cent at a 95 per cent confidence level. Separate surveys of business, motor coach and cruise ship visitors are also being completed by the TRC.

This report separates visitors into five distinct segments: family travellers, adult couples, three or more adult travellers, two adult travellers and single travellers. For this study, adults are considered to be at least 18 years of age, and an adult couple consists of a two-person travel party, one male and one female. The report primarily focuses on the first three segments as they make up approximately 88 per cent of travel groups visiting PEI.

“The results show major differences in length of trip and time spent on PEI. In addition, the types of accommodations the various travel parties use and the percentage of their time spent in these accommodation types are very different,” states Dr. Hennessey. “But the activities these parties engage in while visiting PEI are surprisingly similar. Obviously, families want to do family things. They are much more likely to go to the beach and visit amusement parks than the other types of travel parties. But they also take driving tours, shop and visit cultural attractions at rates similar to the other travel parties. In contrast, adult travellers are more likely to attend the theatre and go to lobster suppers than families. The challenge really arises when looking at how we market PEI to our potential visitors. How do the province and industry create marketing campaigns that strike the right balance and appeal to both adults and families? There is a danger of creating a message that falls in between the two markets and appeals to neither.”

The main highlights of this report include:

· The three main travel parties account for 88 per cent of total visiting parties. Adult couples account for 44.2 per cent, families 31.7 per cent and parties of three or more adults 12.1 per cent. Approximately 80 per cent of these segments were travelling on pleasure trips.

· Adult couples were travelling on the longest trips; they averaged 9.0 nights away from home and 5.1 nights on PEI. The Island was the main destination for only 78 per cent of these trips. Families were travelling on much shorter trips (7.2 nights, 4.9 nights on PEI), but PEI was the main destination for 87 per cent of trips. PEI was the main destination for 84 per cent of the short trips by parties of three or more adults (6.4 nights, 4.0 nights on PEI).

· Adult travel parties favoured hotel, motel, resort, and B&B/inn-type accommodation (35 to 42 per cent of these travel parties spent at least one night in these types of accommodations). Families favoured cottages (28 per cent spent at least one night) or campgrounds (25 per cent spent at least one night).

· Almost one-half of family travellers stayed in Anne’s Land. This area, and Charlottetown, were the leading destinations for adult-only parties.

· The average spending by visitors on a per person, per night, basis ranged from a low of $54.55 by family travellers to a mid-range $65.24 for parties of three or more adults and on to a high of $90.77 for adult couples. As party sizes are larger, total trip expenditures by both families and parties of three or more adults averaged $1,155, considerably more than the average total trip expenditures of adult couples ($916).

· In terms of first-time versus repeat visitors, the three travel segments are similar: between 70 and 74 per cent have been to PEI before.

· As would be expected, family travellers are younger (66 per cent of the adults in the family group are in the age bracket 35–54, which is double the non-family ratio).

· Adult couples are the oldest segment; 52 per cent are 55 or more years of age. More than one-third (36 per cent) are retired.

· Parties consisting of three or more adults travelling together tend to be very much a mix. While 44 per cent are 55 years of age or older, and 25 per cent are retired, a far-above-average 31 per cent are in the young-adult (18 to 34) age group.

· About 6 per cent of the market was two adult travellers and 80 per cent visited PEI for pleasure purposes. Roughly 5.6 per cent of the market was single travellers, and 46 per cent were visiting friends or relatives. PEI was the primary destination of 87 per cent of single travellers and they stayed 8.2 nights of their total 10.6 nights away from home on PEI. Parties of two adults had the shortest stays on PEI at 3.8 nights.

· Two adult travellers were the most likely to stay at a hotel, motel, resort, B&B or inn (56 per cent stayed at least one night). Single travellers, not surprisingly, often stayed at the homes of friends or relatives (47 per cent).

· These two small segments were more likely to visit Charlottetown and points east than other party types, and were also the least likely to visit Anne’s Land.

· The majority of single travellers were repeat visitors (82 per cent). Two adult travellers were the least likely to be repeat visitors (70 per cent).

The report is part of a series of supporting reports based on comprehensive data previously released in the report “Overall Results of the 2007 Exit Survey.” The data is for the main tourism season of June 27 to September 30, 2007, and was collected as visitors departed PEI at the ConfederationBridge, CharlottetownAirport and Wood Islands Ferry (seasonally). Data presented is for pleasure visitors who spent at least one night on PEI.

For a list of all reports released by the TRC on Exit Survey results, please visit trc.upei.ca/exitsurvey. Further information about the report can be obtained from the Tourism Research Centre, School of Business, University of PEI, at (902) 566-6096 or trc@upei.ca.