Mid-Summer Season Review | The Revenge of Urban Tourism

Now that tourists have had their fill of the great outdoors during the pandemic years, some are tempted to treat themselves to a return to the city: Tourisme Montréal is publishing a positive mid-season report this Tuesday.

“We are getting back on track with a trend that was already very strong ten years ago,” explains Marc-Antoine Vachon, holder of the Transat Tourism Chair and professor in the marketing department at ESG UQAM.

City tourism is on a roll, driven by visitors who have plenty of money to spend and who have been less affected by inflation, says Professor Vachon, who adds that it is a global phenomenon.

“Now we’re talking about an increase here,” he continues. “And the pandemic has hurt urban areas much more than rural areas. So it’s normal to see increases now.”

For the months of May, June and July, there was an increase in the number of visitors to Montreal from the United States and France. The same goes for Quebecers, who came more to do tourism in the metropolis.

“We had positioned 2024 as a year of positive stability,” explains Tourisme Montréal CEO Yves Lalumière. We had therefore planned for moderate increases.

However, for some markets, we are seeing an increase of around 8%. This is the case in the United States and Asia.

This is explained by the number of air connections with Montreal which has increased, specifies Mr. Lalumière.

“We have a lot of destinations that we didn’t have before COVID,” he says, citing Stockholm, Copenhagen, New Delhi and Dubai, recent direct connections to Montreal-Trudeau airport.

It’s not just Montreal that is seeing an increase in foreign tourists this summer, some regions of Quebec are seeing it too — Tourisme Gaspésie, in particular, has already noted this increase in its territory, halfway through the summer.

However, to go to Gaspésie, foreign tourists often have to go through one of the major airports. For some of them, Montreal is particularly attractive because it is a more affordable destination.

According to Marc-Antoine Vachon, the growth of urban tourism should continue.

Good news for Montreal tourism entrepreneurs: people who travel are generally less affected by budgetary pressures caused by inflation and they like to be comfortable when they travel. “Montreal is well positioned to receive this high-value tourism,” says Vachon.

Yves Lalumière also points out that foreign tourists spend more when they visit the city than local tourists. “The closer you are to Montreal, the less you spend there,” he says, noting a 13% increase in tourism spending for American travelers alone in 2024, so far.

Tourisme Montréal notes, however, that although the number of visitors increased overall by 4.8% during the first half of the summer season, this did not translate significantly into an increase in the occupancy rate in hotels.

Some visitors therefore opt for other types of accommodation.

Weather: a double-edged sword

One might think that the good weather has also brought back to Montreal some of the American clientele, those from the northeastern United States who decide to cross the border by car on a whim.

Nothing is less certain, corrects Mr. Lalumière, who explains that weather forecasts tend to work against the city. “The weather is very dangerous for us,” says the CEO of Tourisme Montréal. “There is a greater risk of cancellations.”

Local customers thus drop by 2% to 3% when rain or storms are forecast for the city.

For this reason, Tourisme Montréal has diversified its investments in the American market and has put more effort into promoting the city in California.

“Now, 50% of American customers come by plane,” says Yves Lalumière. “So that reduces that risk. When you have a plane ticket, you’re not going to cancel.”

Tourisme Montréal and all industry stakeholders are now eagerly awaiting the second half of summer, since the month of August and fall tourism have gained in popularity in recent years.