For sadly obvious reasons, the COVID-19 pandemic has had the effect of a knife to the heart for the tourism industry.
The sector, as we know, has since revived. Travelers have invaded airports and major events have come to life. One specific component, however, was the big catalyst for the recovery.
“Luckily we had the sports market,” says, without hesitation, Mylène Gagnon, vice-president of sales, business and sports market at Tourisme Montréal. According to her, this market has completely “saved the day in 2022”.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Final of the National Bank Open, in 2022, won by Pablo Carreno Busta against Hubert Hurkacz
This year was indeed the year of the return to life. In April, at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championship, thousands of spectators watched the last race of Charles Hamelin’s career. In June, after two successive cancellations, the Canadian Grand Prix was presented. The Triathlon World Championships were held in the province for the first time in over two decades. In August, after a canceled presentation and another reserved for a limited audience, the National Bank Open exceeded its number of spectators before the pandemic. In September, after two consecutive cancellations, the Marathon found its faithful. And the list goes on…
In 2022, with the end of sanitary measures, we finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and the effect was almost immediate on the sporting level.
Mylène Gagnon, Vice-President Sales, Business and Sports Market at Tourisme Montréal
According to her, this has had the effect of “revitalizing” the city, while other touristic aspects, such as congresses, continue to resume “step by step”.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The Montreal Triathlon World Championships, in 2022
The city, she says, has taken off on a sporting level “for six or seven years”, the result of a desire by local players to develop this niche and an obvious appetite from the public. This is, in a way, what happened again after the pandemic.
Spin off
Almost every time the prospect of setting up new professional sports franchises in the city is mentioned, the same comment is heard: Montreal is first and foremost a city of events. We will not discuss here the mutual exclusion of the two ideas. But on the bottom, there is a certain truth.
In 2019, sport generated 7.4 billion in the country and 611 million in Montreal alone, calculated the organization Sports Tourism Canada using data from Statistics Canada.
The calculation of the economic benefits linked to events often raises questions. Those related to the Grand Prix, for example, have long been overrated.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Max Verstappen won the Canadian Grand Prix in 2022.
When she saw these figures, Mylène Gagnon “asked for them to be revised”. “It seemed like a lot to me,” she says. “We went back to do our calculations, our homework. »
Apparently, the conclusion remained the same. The most important thing, recalls the manager, is “that half [de ces retombées] comes from international visitors.
“The money that’s flowing in Montreal is okay, but we want new funds! »
PHOTO DENIS GERMAIN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Ethiopian Gadisa Shumie won the Montreal Marathon in September 2022.
This is precisely the sinews of war at Tourisme Montréal when it comes to attracting major sporting events and providing them with funding: what spinoffs and influence can the city draw from it? But also: at what price?
Difficult decisions
Because not all projects, even exciting ones, are good projects. In tennis, the Laver Cup, “it interested us a lot”, confirms Mme Gagnon. Montreal, however, did not proceed with the application process.
When we see how some organizations need astronomical financial support, I don’t think it’s a good decision to choose this avenue.
Mylène Gagnon, Vice-President Sales, Business and Sports Market at Tourisme Montréal
It is ultimately Vancouver that will host this meeting in 2023.
In the same vein, if the Quebec government’s decision to withdraw its balls for the 2026 Soccer World Cup “shaken” Tourisme Montréal, “I tell myself, with hindsight, that it’s probably a good decision”, note Mme Gagnon. She notes, in this regard, the significant “concessions” that the host cities will make to host a handful of matches.
PHOTO JEWEL SAMAD, AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Lionel Messi and Argentina lifted the FIFA World Cup trophy in Qatar in December 2022
The presentation of only three games in Montreal would have cost more than 300 million in public funds, a third of which should have been absorbed by the City, and this, not counting the sums necessary to renovate the Olympic Stadium. FIFA also demanded an “event vacuum” in the middle of the festival season.
In 2026, however, Montreal will host the UCI Road Cycling World Championships, an event that would probably have been incompatible with the presence of FIFA in the city.
The VP of Tourisme Montréal is also carried away by mentioning the presentation of the Presidents’ Cup in the fall of 2024. A good move “which makes a lot of people jealous”.
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, PRESS ARCHIVES
The Royal Montreal Golf Club, which hosted the Presidents Cup in 2007 (in our photo, Canadian golfer Mike Weir), will host the event again in 2024.
The presence of so many international events is very much due to the “reputation” of Montreal, she insists, speaking of a “city that creates emotions” and which arouses “excessively positive reactions” to its mere mention everywhere. on the planet. The promoters, she says, discover “a very well-oiled machine” which “makes their life easier” by putting them in touch with levels of government and sports federations, in particular.
The “take off” of the Montreal sports market, in short, does not seem about to run out of steam. With or without new Expos.