(Mont-Joli) The new campaign launched by the organization Tourisme Gaspésie aims this year to maintain the interest of the populations of Quebec and the Maritimes in this region usually very popular with tourists, while the post-pandemic period allows more international travel.
The campaign that has just been set up also includes an offensive to publicize the activities offered in April and May and another to encourage stays from the end of August until mid-October, to promote better distribution of tourist flows.
Despite the strong competition between destinations in Quebec and around the world, an in-house survey by Tourisme Gaspésie suggests that reservations are similar to or slightly below those of last year and that there is still availability, even for the heart of the season.
The promotional organization therefore launched its campaign entitled “L’Extraordinaire. Simply” in various specialized media and magazines, through advertorials, in television advertisements and through program sponsorships, in particular.
At the beginning of the month, a promotional campaign was launched to invite customers from Ontario and the northeastern United States to plan their next vacation in eastern Quebec, especially outside peak periods.
Gaspésie has also been promoted on the French-speaking European market. Tourisme Gaspésie explains that the strategies deployed in this market rely on the production and distribution of content that responds to the concerns of long-haul travellers.
For the period from May to September 2022, Tourisme Gaspésie estimated the number of visitors at more than 570,000 and the impact at 340 million, which represented increases of 2.2% and 7.3% respectively compared to 2021. The increases reached 6% and 25% compared to 2019, a reference year.
During this same period, the average occupancy rate of accommodation establishments in Gaspésie amounted to 66.8%, higher by 2.6 points than that of 2019, and is equal to that of the 2021 season, the best rate recorded to date.
As for the last winter season, the average occupancy rate of accommodation establishments in Gaspésie was 37% for the period from December 2022 to last February, up 5.2% compared to the previous winter. .