Summer 2013 in Review: Increased Tourist Traffic

MONTREAL, Oct. 9, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - A sure sign that the summer has drawn to a close, Tourisme Montréal presents its report on the summer tourist season, with statistics compiled between the months of May to September showing favourable growth in the city's tourism sector. Greater Montréal hotel occupancy rates, Québec border crossings and air passenger traffic at the Montréal airport have all increased. A dynamic destination beyond compare, Montréal enjoyed a lucrative business tourism and cruise season. Furthermore, the great success of many events and attractions contributed to the city's appeal and the vitality of its tourism offering.

For the period of May to September, Greater Montréal hotel statistics show that the average hotel occupancy rate was 77.50%, an increase of 2.17 percentage points over last year. The average daily room rate rose by 3.68% to $148.54 from $143.27 last year.

For the months of May, June and July, international tourist arrivals (United States and other countries) across the Québec border¹ rose slightly by 1.1%. An encouraging rate of American tourists returning to the province was noted, with a significant increase of 2.5%. However, the rate of visitors from abroad decreased by 1.4%, a result of Europe's economic conditions and France's market, in particular. Air passenger traffic to the Montréal-Trudeau², airport increased by 3.8% between May to August over the same period last year.

"At a time when some destinations are struggling to attract new visitors, Montréal is enjoying great success thanks to its creativity and the exceptional collaboration between industry partners. The combined effort and dedication of attractions, festivals alongside the hospitality industry and business market have resulted in growth, even in an extremely competitive context," highlights Yves Lalumière, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tourisme Montréal. 

Montréal's successful tourist season can be attributed to several factors. To begin, the cruise market is stronger than ever, with 50 500 international passengers welcomed to the port this summer alone. As such, Montréal is reinforcing its position as a first-rate passenger embarkation/debarkation destination along the Saint-Lawrence River. Business tourism also contributed significantly to summer hotel and commercial tourist traffic, with no less than eight major multi-hotel conventions that brought close to 23 000 delegates to the city between May to September 2013. What's more, the month of October promises to be equally successful, with several more meetings and conventions coming to Montréal.

City attractions and festivals also enjoyed great success this summer. The Chihuly exhibition at the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal has welcomed a resounding 210 000 visitors to date. Between January and August 2013, visitor traffic to the museum increased by 135%, as compared to the same period last year. The OSHEAGA Festival got over 135 000 festival-goers dancing, showing growth of 12.5% over last year's event. The Mosaïcultures Internationales de Montréal was enjoyed by close to a million visitors and the musée Grévin, inaugurated just last April, welcomed its 100 000^th visitor during the month of August 2013.

Successful promotional efforts
Tourisme Montréal has launched several sales, promotional and public relations campaigns in an effort to stimulate tourism. This year, efforts were primarily concentrated on the North-eastern US, Ontario and Québec markets. To this end, the tourist bureau opted for content-rich strategies over more traditional promotional campaigns, with Montréal gaining popularity in areas such as gastronomy, family or sport vacations, while maintaining its position as a destination of choice for LGBT tourists.

Among the various promotional initiatives implemented this year, the #MTLMOMENTS campaign launched last May is a resounding success. This campaign showcase real, spontaneous "moments" experience by tourists and Montréalers around the city. Just five months after its launch, over 16 000 images had already been shared through Instagram and close to 10 000 tweets were sent via Twitter with the hashtag #MTLMOMENTS, thus contributing to the destination's reputation and popularity.

To view Tourisme Montréal's report on the summer season, please visit: http://www.octgm.com/toolkit/fr/statistiques/bilan-ete-2013.pdf (available in French only)

About Tourisme Montréal
Tourisme Montréal is responsible for providing leadership in the concerted efforts of hospitality and promotion in order to position the "Montréal" 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. For more information, please visit www.tourisme-montreal.org.

^1	Source : Statistique Canada
^2	Source : Aéroports de Montréal (ADM)

 

SOURCE: Tourisme Montréal

Alexandra Graveline
Manager - Corporate Public Relations
Tourisme Montréal
514 844-3558
[email protected]