Weighing the Pros and Cons of a Busy Tourist Season on PEI
There’s no question: the 2025 tourism season has been one of the busiest Prince Edward Island has ever seen.
With reduced bridge and ferry tolls, incredible summer weather, free access to national parks, and more Canadians choosing to travel domestically due to US tensions, our Island has been buzzing from tip to tip!
Of course, a lively tourism season brings a few challenges for Islanders. There’s more traffic downtown, more people at beaches, limited parking in popular spots, and getting a dinner reservation, show ticket, or golf tee time sometimes means booking ahead.
But these small inconveniences tell a bigger story: our Island is thriving because tourism is thriving.
The Benefits of the Busyness
Tourism is one of the Island’s largest economic drivers, supporting thousands of jobs and injecting millions of dollars into our economy each year. In 2024 alone, visitors spent $520.7 million across accommodations, restaurants, shops, and attractions.
This spending doesn’t just help business owners, it supports families, creates jobs, and strengthens communities across PEI.
The Ripple Effect
Consider a simple example: a tourist visits an Island restaurant and orders a lobster dinner. The restaurant owner benefits, of course, but so do the chef, server, bartender, and dishwasher. Then there’s the market owner who supplied the ingredients, the lobster fisherman, the potato farmer, and the delivery driver who brought it all to the restaurant.
The income earned from tourism doesn’t stop at the restaurant’s door. The money earned by all these people flows back into the Island economy. The young hostess might save for her first car. The chef might use his earnings to register his daughter for hockey. All of these people are connected and supported by a booming tourism industry, and all the opportunities it brings!
So yes, maybe it means making a dinner reservation a little earlier than usual, but isn’t that a small price to pay for an Island that’s thriving?
Turning Visitors into Investment
In addition to the hundreds of millions in visitor spending, that spending is also taxed, which means new money is coming into the province that isn’t taken from Islanders’ pockets.
In 2024, tourism generated about $87.9 million in provincial tax revenue. That money comes from visitors, but helps pay for the things we Islanders rely on: doctors and nurses, schools and childcare, road repairs, transportation, parks, community programs, arts and culture, and recreation opportunities.
In other words, the influx of visitors helps pay for the very things that make Prince Edward Island such a great place to live!
Tourists Help Build our Island
Many of the things we enjoy as locals are supported by a strong tourism industry. Without the 1.71 million yearly visitors, we wouldn’t be able to sustain 28 golf courses, over 400 restaurants, a Nordic spa, a world-class theatre and music scene, or the many festivals and events that make Island life so vibrant.
Massive events like the PEI International Shellfish Festival, Jack Frost Winterfest, Sommo, Cavendish Beach Music Festival, Old Home Week, and The Charlottetown Festival wouldn’t be possible to sustain in a province of our size — but tourism makes it possible!
While year-round tourism is growing, summer is still the busiest time of year, and the influx of summer visitors helps make the quieter months more sustainable. In 2024, a record number of accommodations remained open year-round!
The Verdict: Busier is Better
Yes, roads may be busier, parking may be tricky, and beaches may be more crowded. But these minor inconveniences come with big rewards. Tourism strengthens our economy, creates opportunity, funds essential services, and keeps our communities vibrant.
So the next time your favourite restaurant, golf course, or beach is bustling with people, remember what that really means, for you, your family, and for all Islanders. And maybe this is a chance to try somewhere new, discovering even more of what makes our Island special!
The benefits of a successful tourism season don’t just outweigh the challenges; they help ensure PEI stays vibrant, welcoming, and full of opportunity all year long.