Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine gives a very positive assessment for the year of 2016. The destination experienced a new 4% increase in annual entries of visitors, which follows the successive increments of 2014 and 2015.

Traffic of the Destination
About 70 100 visitors chose the Îles de la Madeleine for their holidays in 2016. A total of 61 000 visitors stayed in the archipelago from May to October, which includes all means of transportation. The ferry allows more than 65% of all visitors to reach the destination. The plane, the Vacancier and the international cruises bring respectively 24%, 7% and 4% of visitors on the Islands.

Even though the annual increase is spread during the whole summer season, the most significant increments occurred once again during the months of May and September, which validates the efforts in promoting the destination for a longer tourist season.

Excluding the variation in the disembarking of international cruise passengers, no less than 58 500 visitors stayed on the Islands for an average of 9 nights during the summer, which represents an 8% increase. These data validate the feeling noted during the summer by the members of the industry regarding a strong traffic on the whole archipelago. An exceptional amount of sunshine creates hope for the upcoming tourist season.

Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine's Website
The data registered by Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine regarding the website tourismeilesdelamadeleine.com confirm this increment and demonstrate just how important that platform is. Year after year, it remains an essential tool for planning a trip on the Islands. The latest data regarding annual traffic show:

• A 7% increase in unique visitors, which exceeds the threshold of 500 000 visitors (58% of them were visiting for the first time);
• A 7% increase of the number of sessions, for a total of 831 756, which generates about 6.5 million page views.

The 72 000 connections of visitors at destination can be added to these data and represent a 16% increase for 2016. The adaptive website of Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine and its sections "Where to sleep", "Where to eat", "What to do" and "What's on" remain the main reference for tourist information once the visitors are on the Islands.

Tourist Information Office
Once again, the tourist information office experienced a very busy season. The total of welcoming acts and advertising mail speak for themselves:

• A 14% increase in mailings (including about 5 000 official tourist guides);
• An 8% increase in welcoming acts mainly during the months of May, June and September (note: the summer of 2015 experienced a global increase of 22% regarding the traffic at the office).

End-of-stay survey
From June to September, Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine conducted end-of-stay surveys. The latest update had been done in 2012, and the strong traffic of the summer allowed the gathering of 2 240 surveys (which include all means of transportation). The preliminary data demonstrate the following:

• 65% of visitors were coming to the Islands for the first time in 2016.
• The official tourist guide remains the greatest reference for more than 70% of respondents.
• 55% of visitors that booked their accommodations online used the ATR's website.
• The landscapes, beaches, peacefulness, revitalization and relaxation remain the most popular attributes of the destination.
• The warm welcome and the quality of the environment highly attract visitors, and 78% of them will recommend the destination to their loved ones.

This last year confirms the importance of the destination's positive word of mouth, and we will take advantage of it for a second year as part of our #fousdesiles promotional strategy.

Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine will take the opportunity to update the data regarding the economic benefits that reached 78 million dollars in direct benefits plus 86 million in indirect benefits and wages in 2012.

About Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine
The primary mandate of Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine is to bring local businesses together in a common effort to raise the profile of the tourist industry of the Îles de la Madeleine. Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine plays a leading role in welcoming tourists and providing information, as well as in the development and marketing of the region as a tourist destination.

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Source: Michel Bonato
General Manager
Tourisme Îles de la Madeleine
(418) 986-2245, ext. 225
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