After two years of a pandemic that have undermined the tourism sector, the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal (CCMM) wants the metropolis to once again become a pole of attraction. In a brief released Monday, the organization sets out a series of recommendations for the federal government to encourage the growth of tourism.
While the tourism industry is in full recovery thanks to the easing of health measures and the return of vaccinated foreign tourists, the CCMM believes that the federal government must continue to help the hard-hit sector.
“The tourism industry has been very resilient. She adapted and she did it in an exemplary way. But now, we need better predictability for the sector,” argues Diane Langlois, vice-president of public affairs and government relations at the CCMM.
Facilitate immigration
Among the demands addressed to the Canadian Minister of Tourism, Randy Boissonnault, the CCMM asks, among other things, that Ottawa improve the immigration process, in collaboration with Quebec, to provide rapid solutions to the labor problems facing industry.
In particular, the Chamber urges the government to speed up the processing of applications for workers with an immigrant background. “These delays delay the arrival of labor on the labor market and therefore the growth of businesses,” the document reads.
“It’s not just the tourism industry that is affected by the labor shortage, but it is still particularly so,” notes Ms.me Langlois, while many workers from the sector reoriented themselves during the pandemic.
Make airports more fluid, enlarge the Palais des Congrès
To make Canada and Montreal “world-class” destinations, it is also necessary to “optimize the processes at the points of entry”, that is to say in Canadian airports, believes the Chamber.
With the strong and rapid resumption of international travel, the majority of the world’s major airports are facing significant congestion, juggling cancellations and delays — and those of Pearson in Toronto and Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau in Montreal are not were not left out.
“The causes of these delays are multiple: the lack of staff, the use of the ArriveCan application, or the control measures related to the pandemic. In this regard, the travel industry should be subject to the same health measures as other industries”, argues the CCMM, adding that “the reintroduction of random screening on arrival for fully vaccinated travelers risks contributing to making the more complex tourist trajectory”.
To attract more business tourists, the CCMM is also calling for confirmation of funding for the expansion of the Palais des congrès de Montréal. “We have the opportunity to host larger events, larger conferences in Montreal, with the economic benefits that brings,” said Ms.me Langlois.