Tourism Irony

Peter Rukavina

A friend of mine is coming to Prince Edward Island this summer with her family to write an article for a travel magazine and she sought my advice on where to stay. When recommending places in Charlottetown, I suggested the Inns on Great George, as I’ve only heard good things from people who’ve stayed there.

I added the following caveat, though:

I would avoid if you’re coming the first week in July, as the waterfront celebrations are only blocks away and consume the neighbourhood in an unpleasant way.

I did this only to be helpful, and not as part of some well-planned campaign to discredit the Festival of Lights. I truly couldn’t recommend staying in downtown Charlottetown to a visitor during that week.

The irony is that the Festival of Lights are supposed to help tourism, aren’t they? Of course the even will be attractive to some, but I wonder what the net effect for smaller inns and B&Bs downtown is: if they had a choice, would they take the festival or leave it.

Comments

Submitted by Daniel on

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You’re such an old curmudgeon Peter… I bet the inns, bed & breakfasts, and hotels of Charlottetown are booked up that entire week. They probably would be with or without the Festival of Lights as it occurs at the height of the tourism season anyway but I doubt there are more than a handful of old cranks like yourself -) who tell people not to come during that week. I know this has been argued to death, but it’s not that loud and some people actually like spending time where there are crowds of people having fun.

Submitted by Zach Stephens on

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I worked for a summer at the Inns on Great George. I too recommend it to anyone I can. I can’t comment on what the small operators would do about the the festival if they had their druthers, but I can verify that Daniel is correct. Every inn, hotel, and motel in Charlottetown will be booked up solid at that time of year.

Submitted by Glasseyerod on

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If they are working for a travel magazine they probably already did it, but if they contact Tourism PEI I am sure they can get a whole lot of great recommendations of things to do on the island. I also believe there is a financial beneift of doing this as well. It is my understanding that if they are going to promote the island they will get treated like gold.

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Photo of Peter RukavinaI am . I am a writer, letterpress printer, and a curious person.

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