CHARLOTTETOWN – Provincial tourism figures in Prince Edward Island show the industry has experienced significant increases in visitors and spending in 2014.

The numbers, released Thursday by Premier Robert Ghiz, come as the province marks the 150th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference.

Ghiz told the annual general meeting of the Tourism Industry Association of P.E.I. that this year will be a record breaker in the tourism industry.

Early estimates show 1,359,858 visitors to the province, up 3.8 per cent over 2013.

They also show $401 million in direct spending for an increase of 5.1 per cent.

Both the amount of spending and the number of visitors parting with money were the highest since a new methodology was developed to determine each figure in 2005.