VTC’s Executive Director Sarah Fox appeared at Council last week with an Activities Report and Strategic Plan for the County-funded tourist organization’s year ahead.

Visit the County receives about $500-600k per year from the Municipal Accommodations Tax (MAT) to fund its activities, which support what Ms. Fox called the “three key pillars of sustainable tourism.”

“First, to ensure tourism enriches the lives of residents; second, that the County hosts tourists with excellence, and finally, to grow tourism revenues for our local businesses.”

The strategy for 2026 includes an enhanced focus on social media to draw “high-value” visitors from surrounding cities during the shoulder seasons and increase overnight stays.

“As we know, social media has evolved into the most important tool for the work that we do.

“It is the number one source for travel research and vetting.”

Ms. Fox cited a 2026 Blue Cross study of AI use in travel planning to note, “people are using AI tools that pull data and sentiment directly from the social media algorithms that recommend Prince Edward County to travellers.”

Despite intensifying its focus on social media marketing, VTC still does not have the metrics to show how its large numbers of Instagram followers translate — if they do — into actual tourists.

“We are investing heavily this year in data because we believe that every decision we make should be data informed,” said Ms. Fox.

It is starting with an enhanced investment in AirDNA. The subscription-only platform reliably tracks local STA bookings, but not hotels.

Current AirDNA data indicates 2025 visitor bookings are up over those of 2024, particularly in the shoulder seasons. The AirDNA numbers have yet to be correlated with the County’s MAT revenues, however, which will be available in April or May.

In partnership with the County’s Community Services, Programs and Initiatives department, VTC is also purchasing data from Moneris, which tracks credit card payments.

Also new in 2026 is access to Environics Visitor View’s insights into tourist demographics. VTC also plans to track activity on its website event and operator listings.

Ms. Fox indicated that VTC’s June fiscal report to Council should be newly informed with visitor metrics.

In the meantime, a Visitor Experience pilot survey created with Mike Amos of the Licensed Short Term Accommodators of PEC offered a glimpse of the typical County visitor.

In October and November 2025, 195 overnight guests filled out the survey. The vast majority, over 70 percent, were repeat visitors over the age of 55. They dined out (92 percent), shopped (62 percent), and visited a winery (38 percent). They came from Toronto, Ottawa, Kingston, and Montreal.

Visit the County plans to create a Visitor Experience survey to run all year round, polling visitors at the end of overnight stays.

Shoulder season visitors were targeted in 2025 with a Winter Wellness campaign and a Holiday campaign promoting the magic of Christmas and other holidays in the County. 

While website pages for both campaigns are well travelled, it is not clear how website visits translate into actual visits.

VTC now has spring and fall Countylicious in its sights. Long thought of as a way for locals to enjoy their world-class restaurants — and keep them in business during the quiet seasons — VTC  wants to market the food festival more intensively to visitors from surrounding cities.

To that end, VTC is pulling from its local advertising budget in favour of “targeted messaging to larger urban areas.”

In answer to a question from Councillor Hirsch, who linked the first pillar of sustainable tourism, enriching the lives of local residents, to the local character of Countylicious, Ms. Fox acknowledged that over 60 percent of the festival’s patrons are local.

VTC still plans to advertise locally, she noted, but “a consultant reviewed the program with restaurants in the fall. Visit the County will try some new things, some tweaks and experimentation, and then form a working group with participating restaurants to get their direct feedback on how the program should proceed.” 

Ms. Fox concluded her presentation by noting, “I look forward to harnessing opportunities to improve the quality of life for residents and to preserve the local culture, the vibe, everything that makes the County such a special place that people want to visit.”