Visitation to one of Prince Edward Island’s most famous attractions is up this year.
Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish has seen a 20 per cent increase in visitors so far this summer compared to 2024.
Parks Canada’s Kassandra McKinnon, the visitor experience team lead for Green Gables, said the site’s peak so far this season has been close to 3,000 visitors in one day.
“That was a very busy day for us,” McKinnon said. “The site has already welcomed over 58,000 visitors.”
She said Parks Canada was anticipating higher numbers this summer due to the Canada Strong Pass, which began June 20 and remains in effect until Sept. 2.
The pass was introduced by the federal government to help promote domestic tourism. It includes free admission for all visitors to national historic sites, national parks and national marine conservation areas administered by Parks Canada and a 25 per cent discount on camping fees.
McKinnon said staff have noticed an increase in independent travellers, which has helped ease some of the congestion at sites like Green Gables.
“We’re actually seeing fewer large tour buses. We’re seeing more… families, couples, independent travelers visiting on their own schedules, which spreads out the visitation [and] actually has been really nice for queues and being able to kind of spread that out throughout the day,” she said.
“It’s been great to see people experiencing the sites in their own way, making deeper connections with the story of Anne of Green Gables.”
Lucy Maud Montgomery drew inspiration from the farmstead known as Green Gables while writing her iconic 1908 novel. Each summer, the site draws thousands of visitors to the area looking to roam the same grounds as the Anne character from the books.
‘Stay as long as you like’
McKinnon said changes in visitation mean fewer people looking to do guided tours.
“It’s more of a ‘stop and stay as long as you like,’ kind of the freedom to flow through some of those experiences,” she said.
Local artist Susan Christensen is also in the visitor centre throughout the week, creating a painting inspired by one of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s poems.
McKinnon said there is a variety of things to do at the Green Gables Heritage Place this season in addition to the guided tours.
“We have musical performance, we have experiences like heritage horticulture, we have a program called Past and Practice, that could be a variety of things… like old-fashioned book binding.”
