Visits down east: A mix of vacations, catching up with friends and family

Whether it is swimming at a beach, going whale-watching, taking a boat ride, sampling quality seafood or anything in between, there’s plenty to do out east!

Every year, the National Travel Survey (NTS) collects detailed data on trip purpose, number of travellers, province of origin and destination, among others. The most recent data are from 2024, so as we continue our series of travel stories, let’s take a drive back through the data to see where Canadian travellers went in the Atlantic provinces and what they did.

Newfoundland and Labrador: Visits mostly from within and by car        

Newfoundland and Labrador residents made up more than four in five of the 3.8 million visits to tourism regions in Canada’s easternmost province in 2024. Most visits were for personal reasons, either holidays, leisure or recreation (39.2%) or visiting friends or relatives (32.4%). Fewer people visited for other personal reasons, such as shopping, and for business.

Most visits (81.5%) were made by car or truck, and the most common distance from origin to destination was 40 to 79 kilometres. Overall, three in five visits (60.5%) were same-day and did not involve accommodation costs.

Most visits were generally spread out across the island, and a relatively small proportion of visits were to Labrador (1.8%).

Though the highest proportion of visits (36.2%) were in the summer months (July to September), more than one in five visits (22.9%) were in the fourth quarter, which indicates there are probably a lot of gatherings in the holiday season!

Prince Edward Island: Most visits are from out of province

Tourism regions in P.E.I. attracted the highest proportion of out-of-province visits among the Atlantic provinces in 2024, when about three in five visits (59.2%) were from elsewhere, mostly Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Some visitors came a great distance; almost one in five visits (19.5%) covered 800 to 1,599 kilometres, and it was an even longer haul for 6.1% of visits.

As well, given that more than four in five of the 1.5 million total visits to the island’s tourism regions were by car or truck, it’s safe to say that the Confederation Bridge continued to be very busy!

More than half (51.2%) of P.E.I. visits happened in the third quarter, and approximately one in six visits (16.3%) involved children. This is the highest proportion of visits involving children among the Atlantic provinces and is an indication that the island continues to be a popular spot for family vacations.

Nova Scotia: Staying a bit longer and with friends and family

Just across the water is Nova Scotia, where over four in five of the 10.1 million tourism region visits (81.4%) in that province in 2024 came from within it. Next, 7.0% of visits came from Ontario, top among the other provinces, followed by the nearby New Brunswick (4.9%), Prince Edward Island (1.7%) and Quebec (1.2%).

Although nearly two-thirds (65.2%) of Nova Scotia visits were same-day, a considerable proportion of visits involved a stay of three nights or more (13.6%).

Almost one-third (32.7%) of visits were to see friends or relatives, another 18.6% were for other personal reasons (such as shopping), while 1 in 10 (10.6%) were for business. Holidays, leisure or recreation (38.1%) was still the top trip purpose overall.

Further indications of why Nova Scotia welcomes so many friends and family visits are that more than one-third (37.9%) of overnight visits were at the home of a friend or relative, while more than two in five visits (41.1%) were in the first or fourth quarters, which is outside of peak tourist season.

New Brunswick: Visits from the neighbours

Compared with Nova Scotia, proportions were reversed somewhat in New Brunswick. In fact, the top trip reason among all 7.8 million visits to or within New Brunswick’s tourism regions in 2024 was to visit friends or relatives (37.1%), followed by holiday, leisure and recreation (30.2%).

The scenic Acadian Coastal Drive, Saint John River Valley (including Moncton) and nearby Fundy tourism regions were the destinations for most travellers.

Though most visits came from within the province (72.6%), those from neighbouring Nova Scotia (10.1%) and Prince Edward Island (2.8%) accounted for more than 1 million visits. Add in Quebec (6.8%) and Ontario (5.3%)—trips to New Brunswick from many locations in those provinces are less than a day’s drive—and that number reaches 2 million visits.

Close to half (45.4%) of overnight visits involved a stay at a friend or relative’s home. This proportion is higher than that in Nova Scotia, even though the number of these visits was slightly lower.

Almost $7 billion spent

Canadian visitors to tourism regions in the Atlantic provinces spent $2.9 billion in Nova Scotia, $1.8 billion in New Brunswick, $1.3 billion in Newfoundland and Labrador and $697 million in P.E.I. in 2024.

The breakdown varied by province. For example, accommodation accounted for the highest share of expenditures in Nova Scotia and P.E.I., while that category was ranked behind vehicle operation (including gas and repairs) in New Brunswick.

Visitors in Newfoundland and Labrador spent more on commercial transportation (train, bus, etc.) than accommodation, while visitors in New Brunswick spent more on food and beverages in restaurants and bars than on accommodation.

Looking ahead

The NTS will release data for the second quarter of 2025 on December 2, 2025, in The Daily. Data for the first quarter of 2025 for both the NTS and the Visitor Travel Survey are now available.