(Montreal) For motor racing enthusiasts who roam downtown Montreal to peek at the luxury vehicles and enjoy the festive atmosphere surrounding the return of the Formula 1 Grand Prix, this weekend is particularly point.
Posted at 9:41 a.m.
“It feels like 2019, we’re back to normal,” said Alfredo Monsivais, a Montrealer he met while admiring a green Alfa Romeo on display on Peel Street on Thursday afternoon.
Sunday’s race will be the first Canadian Grand Prix in three years since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the two previous events.
The days preceding the race are always special, underlines the co-owner of the restaurant Chez Delmo in Old Montreal, Benoit Dessureault. After the long Montreal winters, the race officially marks the start of summer activities for him.
“It’s almost like coming out of hibernation,” he said in an interview Thursday. We see this festive crowd arriving, well dressed, with money to spend and saying: “Wake up Montreal, it’s time to party!” »
A great price is also good for business, recognizes the restaurateur. On a regular evening, Chez Delmo serves about 70 customers in its 60-seat dining room. But on this long F1 weekend, some 150 guests will parade each evening.
“The value of the average bill is rising, we sell more champagne, there is more alcohol consumption, we sell more luxury goods, wine, etc., lists the businessman. It is the second best time of the year after New Year’s Eve. »
This great return of F1 is also a delight for hotel establishments in the metropolis, as Jean-Sébastien Boudreault, CEO of the Greater Montreal Hotel Association, points out.
” [Pendant la pandémie], there were months when our occupancy rate hovered around 5%, he recalled Thursday. It was extremely difficult for our hoteliers. »
This weekend, he said, occupancy rates will reach 96% and the average price for overnight stays is around $500.
The Grand Prix is one of the busiest weekends of the summer, as are those of the start of the International Jazz Festival as well as Osheaga.
However, this holiday does not come without cost to taxpayers. In 2017, the three levels of government announced investments of $98.2 million to keep the event in Montreal until 2029. This agreement was extended for two years in 2021 in order to recover the races canceled due to the pandemic. Quebec and Ottawa, however, had to extend 51 million more.
According to Moshe Lander, who teaches economics at Concordia University, although the Grand Prix is a “big event”, he believes that its financial impact is overestimated.
While the race may result in a jump in business figures for some, the total impact would remain rather small compared to the city’s economy as a whole, he said.
“If F1 wasn’t there, it’s not as if no tourists were going to come to Montreal,” he said. It would just be a different group of tourists. »
He adds that hotels are always very busy in Montreal in the summer, which means that when people come for F1, they only take the place of other visitors who would come to see the arts of the city or participate in a cultural event.
Crossed on Crescent Street, Stephannie Urrutia, who was strolling with her mother Ingrid Estrada, both dressed in the colors of Ferrari, simply said that she was happy to see people again and the return of a sport she loves.
“It really feels good to have that back after a pandemic,” she said.