Tourism Data

It was hoped that for modelling purposes there would be appropriate tourist and operator data
information that would express the tourism attractiveness preferences of tourists and the tourism
resources that exist, however this information does not appear to exist in this form.
After contacting
the client, Cathy MacDonald-Department of Tourism, a referral for tourism data was made to the
2000 Nova Scotia Visitor Exit Survey found at the following web url,
http://www.nstpc.com/docs/0112756_Visitors_Exit.pdf. This report provides general information on
visitors to the region as well as the activities they were engaged in. The report used surveys to
determine the numbers of same-day and overnight visitors from June 5 to November 30. The
following are the access points for tourists and the numbers of tourists to each point: Halifax
International Airport 935, Highway 104 Amherst bound 760 Caribou ferry 595, North Sydney ferry
461, Digby ferry 383, and the Yarmouth ferry 779.167 This survey also provided important
information on activity preferences and participation rates which is worth mentioning. The following
nine activities are those with the highest participation rates shown with the rate of tourist participation
as a percentage. Since a tourist can participate in more than one activity during a visit the percentages
will not total 100%. The activities are: general sightseeing 72%, leisure walking/hiking 55%, visiting
friends or relatives 55%, other shopping 51%, visiting craft shops/studios 45%, visiting a
National/Provincial historic site 36%, nature observation 34%, beach exploring/beachcombing 31%,
visiting museums 28%. Of particular note is the number of non-resident person-visits which have been
steadily increasing since 1996. For 1999 and 2000, non-resident person-visits seem to have leveled out
with 1,421,900 for both years. It is unclear however what accounts for this trend.168 This survey is an
extensive reporting of tourists, their expenditures, and the services they use. It does not, however,
make mention of the nature activities, scenery, or nature-based activities that they prefer. In terms of
modelling it would be much more useful if there was an accompanying survey that focused on these
issues. This supplemental survey could be administered to that select group of tourists who are
engaged in nature-based activities as indicated by their response to the previous survey.