COMMENTARY: NHL deal brought people to P.E.I.

Prince Edward Island has a successful history of welcoming tourists, capturing their hearts, and welcoming them back again — usually with their friends and family in tow. When we entered into the NHL partnership, it aligned well with what was then new five-year tourism strategy. This strategy, developed and implemented with industry partners, seeks to support the tourism sector as we welcome not just tourists but also sport, event, meeting and convention attendees year-round.

Proof of the strategy’s success can be seen and felt around the Island.

It is October 2026, well into shoulder season, and tourism is still going strong. Results to date have been outstanding. Up to the end of August, we have seen an increase in bridge traffic (+6 per cent), air traffic (+9 per cent), and ferry traffic (+15 per cent). This growth has supported industry operators across our Island, with many regions experiencing growth in room-nights sold and more visitors visiting our province in the fall, winter and spring than ever before. I’m confident that we’ll break the previous records of 1.87 million visitors in 2025, and 1.7 million in 2024.

This growth can only happen with the offerings provided by our tourism operators. For your countless contributions towards helping us reach new heights and achieve these back-to-back record years of showcasing our Island, I thank you.

Tourism is integral to our economy. In 2025, visitors spent nearly $1 billion here in P.E.I. Those visitors helped create over 15,000 jobs and generate over $160 million in tax revenues. The industry helps the province pay for health care, education, and other critical services for all Islanders.

To help us assess the impact of the NHL partnership on those overall tourism numbers to date, we engaged IMI International; the report will soon be posted on the Tourism P.E.I. website. They found that the campaign reached over 8.5 million Canadians, four million of whom said they would definitely consider visiting P.E.I., 2.6 million have already researched visiting, and 1.2 million are actively planning their trip.

This partnership also brought 315,000 new visitors to our island, and generated $95 million in visitor spending, confirming that this partnership brought us closer to reaching our objectives of optimizing our tourism environment and increasing tourism-related revenues.

As anyone in the industry can assure you, tourism is built on relationships and partnerships, and the best ones are built on respect and communication.

We heard a lot from tourism operators recently supporting targeted marketing campaigns like the one with the NHL. Many felt it was successful in generating first-time visitors and, as we know, once someone visits our Island, they cannot wait to come back.

We talked to Islanders, as well, who made two things clear: that there is absolute support for continued investment in tourism as an economic-driver and that it’s time for something new. For this reason, we will be moving on from the NHL partnership when it ends Dec. 31, 2026.

We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all the Tourism P.E.I. staff and the tourism industry whose hard work, professionalism, and dedication contributed to the successful delivery of this campaign. Their efforts were instrumental in achieving strong results and advancing the organization’s tourism objectives.

The NHL partnership was valuable and was important in showcasing our Island as a world-class destination. We appreciate being able to work with a great organization like the NHL and thank them for their help and professionalism.

To our tourism operators — rest assured, we will continue to prioritize the tourism sector, investing in marketing at the same level next year and beyond. We appreciate the economic and cultural value our tourism sector provides us and commit to building on the expanded audiences this partnership helped us reach.

Ernie Hudson is minister of Fisheries, Rural Development and Tourism.