This text is part of the special Business Tourism section
“One of the subjects that our members unanimously agree on is the need to expand the Palais des congrès de Montréal,” says Jean-Sébastien Boudreault, president and CEO of the Greater Montreal Hotel Association ( AHGM). In mid-August, this organization brought together 220 participants for its annual conference, which focused on the vitality of Montreal’s tourism industry and its future.
This is because the Palais des congrès is the locomotive of business tourism for the greater Montreal region, and all of Quebec. For the sixth year in a row, Montreal ranked as the continent’s leading destination for international conferences according to the Union of International Associations rankings. However, as Jean-Sébastien Boudreault explains, competition is renovating and expanding: the Palais des congrès now ranks only fourth in the country in size after Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.
“We are missing fantastic opportunities because we lack space, but if this continues, we will start to lose opportunities, and that will take a long time to make up for,” insists the lawyer, who also sits on the board of directors of the Société du Palais des congrès de Montréal.
Reading the state corporation’s 2019-2023 strategic plan, we learn that New York and Las Vegas spent $1.5 and $1.4 billion on such expansions. For cities like Orlando, Miami and San Francisco, the bill is more in the order of 500 million.
Would this possible expansion of the Palais des Congrès be carried out by interior redevelopment or by an expansion towards the east along the axis of the Ville-Marie tunnel? To be seen in the next, highly anticipated strategic plan.
“We need a convention center that can accommodate several medium-sized conferences [2000, 3000 participants] at the same time,” says Jean-Sébastien Boudreault, according to whom Montreal has a big card to play. “In the United States, many organizations are resistant to the anti-trans, anti-LGBT or anti-sanitary measures policies of certain states. »
He explains that in its current state, the Palais des congrès would never have been able to convince the organizers of COP15 on Biodiversity to come to Montreal. It was following the cancellation of the event in China that Canada was able to recover the event at the last minute. “The economic benefits of this congress were exceptional, but we obtained it because we arrived as saviors, at the last minute. »
Decline in short-term business tourism
One of the themes of the AHGM annual conference concerned the decline in short-term business tourism. General tourism data shows a very strong increase in 2022, which continued in 2023, except for short-term business tourism, i.e. small half-day meetings two days with less than 50 people.
“This type of tourism will probably never return to pre-pandemic levels. Because of video conferencing, there are a lot of these meetings that just aren’t happening anymore. »
Participants at the AHGM conference were clear about the urgency for hotels and conference organizers to readjust their offerings in this area. “It’s going to take some imagination. Large conferences work because people are willing to travel for the experience and knowledge they can acquire. We will have to put together offers for short-term business tourism which will include more amenities. You have to develop reasons to stay another weekend. »
The challenge is significant. According to the Tourisme d’affaires Québec organization, business tourism represents 40% of tourism revenue in Quebec and perhaps a little more in Montreal, where 80% of visitors from outside come. In addition, this business tourism also has the advantage of being countercyclical: it fills hotels outside the ordinary tourist season.
Necessary revaluation
The other major point that emerged from the AHGM conference was the need to revalorize tourism in general, and certainly business tourism. “Quebec needs its tourism infrastructure not only for the revenue, but for the service it provides,” says Jean-Sébastien Boudreault. Bombardier must accommodate those who come to visit its facilities or negotiate its planes. IATA [Association du transport aérien international]ICAO [Organisation de l’aviation civile internationale], diplomatic circles, multinationals, ministries all need hotels. » In short, the economic interest of Greater Montreal’s 20,000 hotel rooms far exceeds the clientele they bring to restaurants, shops, museums and performance halls.
“In a logic of sustainable development, we must also ensure the social acceptability of tourism. Montreal is a popular city for conferences and will be more and more so, but we do not want to experience what is happening in Barcelona or Amsterdam where the population is overwhelmed by the invasive presence of tourists. »
Promoting the tourism industry therefore requires an awareness of its importance, but also a promotion of all its professions in the context where labor shortages particularly hit this industry.
“Each hotel is a village, which has its engineers, its lawyers, its cabinetmakers, its electricians, its cooks, and dozens of very diverse trades,” he says. Tourism is a know-how industry where the possibilities for advancement are real. There are not many sectors of activity where it is possible to start as a sailor and end up as a captain. »
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.