This text is part of the special Business Tourism section
Tourisme Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean was entrusted by the Ministry of Tourism with the management of an envelope of $5 million to support the realization of collective projects affecting business tourism.
“All regions of Quebec can aspire to business tourism, with different angles or targets,” explains Julie Dubord, general director of Tourisme Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean. The latter has, in fact, just been designated for the second time as manager of a large-scale collective agreement, namely the Regional Partnership and Digital Transformation Agreement in Tourism, with a value increased to $5 million. The agreement aims to support cross-cutting challenges to tourism in the region, such as the digital challenge, of course, but also climate change, the workforce, the quality of reception and even the customer experience, depending on the destination. “All regions of Quebec can therefore use this lever for anything that may have a link with business tourism, indigenous tourism or adventure tourism, for example,” she specifies.
In the business tourism sector, particularly, where we find, among other things, numerous problems linked to attractiveness, digital transition and sustainable development, several solutions could be found thanks to this collective agreement. “We could set up a measurement tool so that convention centers can quantify the number of delegates,” explains M.me From the edge. I’m not talking about a project on the table, but rather a hypothesis. But we could thus obtain elements of comparison which would be applied throughout Quebec in order to find out more. »
Beyond research and development, the Regional Partnership and Digital Transformation Agreement in Tourism also has a second component which concerns the implementation of projects in the region. “We would thus be entitled to a “trial and error,” indicates the general director of Tourisme Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean. We would have the right to say to ourselves that we were wrong, that it didn’t work, but at least we would learn collectively. »
The final part of the agreement is the activation of solutions, which can both arise from new discussions between players in the sector, but also come out of the box. “Because we are very prolific in tourism associations,” affirms Julie Dubord, according to which the more the results are applied on a large scale throughout Quebec, the more significant the effects on the attractiveness and performance of the destination will be.
Business travelers exploring
“In the same spirit, there are certain sectors of activity which could wish to open up to new offers or develop a new way of doing things in terms of business tourism”, continues Mme From the edge. In fact, the various tourism organizations know that the behavior of business customers is changing. “The very definition of business tourism is much more malleable, compared to what we could see a few years ago. At the time, it was simple: we told ourselves that we had to be in a convention center or in a conference room to consider that it was business tourism. Today, it takes several forms and you can be in a natural setting or in a cultural setting and work,” she points out.
It therefore becomes necessary to study and understand the new business traveler in order to anticipate what pushes them to purchase this or that product. “Thanks to all this work, carried out collectively, each region will be able to aspire to reposition itself in business tourism,” says the general director, who adds: “Let’s take a region like the North Shore. There are a lot of workers who come there because there are large hydroelectric installations. Well, these people are business people who behave like consumers. Since they don’t live there, they will surely have to go to the hotel, to the restaurant, and will perhaps even wish to discover the tourist offers offered in the surrounding area. »
According to Julie Dubord, this is when the regions can stand out.
“I am thinking of sectors like Nunavik, which we do not necessarily associate with business tourism, but which could join forces with others to develop a particular offer,” she specifies.
From now on, apart from the infrastructure and the reception capacity of the regions, the framework in which the event takes place is essential.
“The line between business tourism and leisure tourism is blurring because, in the end, conference attendees appreciate that the place they are going to is beautiful and dynamic,” notes Julie Dubord, who believes in strength of the “great culture of collaboration” between Quebec tourism associations so that this agreement makes it possible to deploy a “real experimental laboratory”.
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.