Montréal's summer tourist season: the best in a decade!

MONTREAL, Oct. 21 /CNW Telbec/ - Summer 2010, from May to September, can be described as nothing less than excellent for Montréal's entire tourism industry. In fact, the latest figures show an increase of over 13% for the number of hotel rooms sold during this time, as compared to the same period in 2009. Hotel room rates increased approximately 6.8% for the summer months.

The growth in the number of visitors to the city can be explained by several factors, notably the return of the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada and the stabilization of the world economy. In addition, the great effort on the part of tourism representatives to promote Montréal as a dynamic destination and the work of convention industry professionals to bring large-scale business meetings to the city also significantly contributed to this successful season.

"Last year (2009) hit our industry extremely hard, but it is now in the past and we can only celebrate the excellent results of summer 2010," states Tourisme Montréal President and CEO, the Honourable Charles Lapointe. "Our quick reaction in response to last year's bleak economic situation, as well as to the new obligatory passport requirement for Americans wishing to visit Canada and visa restrictions for Mexican travellers, allowed Montréal to beat the odds in a fiercely competitive urban destination market. Thanks to the diligent work and expertise of Tourisme Montréal teams in conjunction with industry players, the city was able to distinguish itself as a leader among other destinations and attract a record number of visitors, for business and for pleasure, and I would like to express my gratitude to all those who contributed to this glowing success," concludes Charles Lapointe.

A challenge for the coming years will be to continue to fill some 5,000 hotel rooms added over the last decade, primarily in the upper echelon of hotel quality. Real estate assets in the Greater Montréal territory include over 31,000 rooms. These recent major investments demonstrate that Montréal sets itself apart from the competition with an ever-evolving tourism offering that creates a positive impact on the tourism experience of international visitors.

A vision and proactive strategy to keep the momentum going

The city's development and marketing strategy initiated last year continues so as to maintain Montréal's advancement on the international level, notably with the implementation of a proactive strategic plan to be launched in the coming days. Tourisme Montréal returned the mandate to one of Montréal's most respected strategists, Mr. Marcel Côté, co-founder of the Secor consulting group. Starting next week, a survey of organization members will be performed, in addition to consultations with Montréal and Québec tourist industry leaders. This new measure will allow Tourisme Montréal to find innovative avenues in marketing, sales and product development. It also falls within the organization's mandate to provide leadership in the concerted efforts of hospitality and promotion in order to position the destination on leisure and business travel markets. 

Montréal annually welcomes some 7.5 million tourists, all types of stays combined, with tourist expenditures representing 2.5 billion dollars.

Results for the 2010 tourist season in Montréal (in French): http://www.octgm.com/pdf/bilan-touristique-ete-2010.pdf

Tourisme Montréal is responsible for providing leadership in the concerted efforts of hospitality and promotion in order to position the destination on leisure and business travel markets. It is also responsible for developing Montréal's tourism product in accordance with the ever-changing conditions of the market.

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Please note that Mr. Pierre Bellerose is available on Thursday, October 21, 2010, for interviews.