New Brunswick’s tourism minister says we have seen a boost in visitors to the province this summer.

Tammy Scott-Wallace said we have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, but we are “incredibly close.”

“Tourism has absolutely come alive in the summer,” Wallace told our newsroom in a recent interview.

“People were waiting for it, they were excited to get back out and to enjoy everything that New Brunswick has to offer.”

Wallace said her department expects to see an “incredibly strong” fall tourism season, particularly with travellers from Ontario and Quebec.

“Certainly within a year or two, we’re going to see our tourism back and exceeding the number that we have prior to the pandemic,” she said.

In April, the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture released a five-year tourism plan dubbed The Invitation.

The strategy includes a number of metrics, such as increasing overnight visits by 33 per cent to 1.45 million, and boosting the province’s Tourism Sentiment Score — or online traveller’s perceptions of our province and its tourism offerings — by 21 per cent, from 16.5 to 20.

In addition, the province hopes the plan will help contribute to its goals of growing the province’s labour force to 405,300 by the end of 2024, achieving net interprovincial migration levels of 1,000 each year, and welcoming 7,500 newcomers annually by 2024.