This text is part of the special Business Tourism booklet
The pandemic has not completely slowed down the activities of the Palais des congrès de Montréal and the Center des congrès de Québec, whose calendars have been replenished. Quebec will have resumed its cruising speed in May while Montreal is lining up 180 events for the rest of 2022.
“It will represent 210, 215 million dollars in benefits,” predicts Stéphanie Lepage, director of marketing and communications at the Palais des congrès de Montréal (PCM). “The four largest international conventions this summer will welcome between 10,000 and 25,000 participants. »
The Québec City Convention Center (CCQ) will not be outdone. In June alone, three international congresses will bring together specialists in kinesiology, agroforestry and agro-geoinformatics. “Despite quieter periods during the pandemic, we never stopped signing contracts,” reveals Ann Cantin, director of communications and marketing. “The majority of organizers never wanted to cancel. They preferred to postpone. »
Stand out in the race
“The phone rings, we continue to confirm conventions and win applications,” announces Stéphanie Lepage. In 2020, for the fourth consecutive year, Montréal was named the continent’s top destination for international conventions according to the list of the Union of International Associations, well ahead of New York, Washington and Chicago.
She explains that Montreal received in January 2022 the accreditation of the Advisory Council on Global Biorisks (GBAC Star, according to its English acronym). “It is a disinfection protocol and best sanitary practices. It is the only accreditation of its kind for facilities and we were the first convention center in Quebec to obtain it. »
According to Ann Cantin, distancing measures and masks are less of a problem for event organizers than uncertainty about assembly bans and air access. She says the CCQ has developed its own methods that will allow it to deal with the next waves. “Thanks to our capacity to host four simultaneous events, we were able to develop a concept of “bubble events” where speakers were moved between groups of 250 people. »
In Montreal, we believe that the hybrid dimension of conventions will continue. “Because it had already started before the pandemic. But above all because the organizers want to broaden their audience to maximize the intellectual and social benefits of their event,” says Stéphanie Lepage.
The PCM has therefore acquired seven professional-level audiovisual production studios. “We are able to advise our clients on the best platform to use. »
Ann Cantin, meanwhile, has doubts about the level of interest in the hybrid formula. “For large organizations, conventions are an important source of revenue and membership renewal. And they all hope to hold their event in person. He’s always done video, but customers don’t like it. It’s expensive, it requires a lot of planning and two years of Zoom and Teams, it’s “boring”. »
Positioning efforts
To defend its position and gain market share, Ann Cantin explains that the CCQ mobilizes its customer experience department as soon as an event is planned.
“Since March 13, 2020, we have never stopped communicating with customers, saying hello or sending them sugar shack recipes. We worked on the advantages of the destination, which are incomparable. There is not a city on the continent that looks like us. »
In Montreal, we absolutely want to keep first place. Of course, the metropolis enjoys advantages that appeal to the major international associations: a safe, “walkable” city, cultural and bilingual, not too big or too expensive, with excellent airport service.
But no question of sitting on its laurels either. “The collaboration with Tourisme Montréal and the Chamber of Commerce is excellent, and we are forging closer ties with the Quartier des spectacles,” says Stéphanie Lepage.
Since 2019, the Palais des congrès de Montréal has been playing a new card: the Event Lab. It is a flexible structure of 12 local companies selected to offer a personalized service to the organizers.
Some of these services relate directly to event management, such as Stay22’s accommodation location service, RE-AK’s participant cognitive experience measurement, BrainDate’s enrichment of exchanges between participants or the optimization bathrooms of Les Cabinets. But there is also MASSIVart and its scenography services and the olfactory experiences of Simulation Deja Vu.
“It works very well, says Stéphanie Lepage. The idea is to offer delegates a unique and memorable Montreal experience. »