Tourist season stretches out in Quebec | A little wool in the suitcase

August has become a peak month for the Quebec tourism industry, with vacationers now preferring it to construction weeks, particularly foreign tourists who sometimes extend their stay in Quebec until fall.

The tourist season is getting longer in Quebec.

In Gaspésie, vacationers are present from May and June until the beginning of fall. For years now, the weeks following the construction holidays have been the busiest.

Aren’t people afraid of the cool weather on the river bank in August?

“We’re not selling the fact that we walk around in bikinis all day long in Gaspésie,” says Stéphanie Thibaud, director of marketing and communications for Tourisme Gaspésie.

Many travelers are planning to pack a little sweater in their suitcase since vacations in August are no longer just a trend in Quebec, but a groundswell.

CAA-Quebec confirms that the period after the construction holidays is the most popular: more than four out of ten Quebecers (42%) take their vacation during this period in August compared to only 25% during the construction holiday weeks.

This is also what Martin Gagnon, co-owner of the Vieux Loup de Mer hotel chalets in Bic, in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, noted. This year, there were more people in May and June; and more at the end of the summer, starting in early August.

First, there is the weather factor.

“We had a really early spring,” says the tourism entrepreneur, who confirms that the fine weather has increased the occupancy rate for this hotel complex, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.^e birthday.

July was quieter and people waited a little longer to make reservations, leading to a slight drop in occupancy during the construction holiday.

“We really see that August is now busier than July,” he said.

“And it will last until September,” says Martin Gagnon.

Foreign tourists

In Gaspésie, there was a 12% increase in available units and occupancy rates are comparable to those of last year.

“Things are going well,” concludes Stéphanie Thibaud, “there are more people consuming accommodation.”

Before the pandemic, Quebec tourists represented around 80% of visitors to Gaspésie, while they now make up 70% of travelers. The French represent 4% to 5% of tourists.

“We are also working on the local market of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia,” says the representative of Tourisme Gaspésie. Ontario as well, to compensate for the decrease in local tourists.

For some regions, the well-being of the tourism sector comes partly from this diversification of the clientele.

“We’re out of the pandemic. People came to the Lower St. Lawrence, people came to the Gaspé. They came back. At some point, there’s a loss of steam and the desire to go see something else, somewhere else,” concedes Martin Gagnon, who is seeing a nice increase in his foreign clientele this year. “We’re taking our 2019 figures for the European market, but the big surprise this year is American tourism.”

Travelers from the American East Coast and New York who often stopped their trip in Quebec pushed their curiosity further.

“We have a lot of Americans calling to make their reservations for this fall,” says Martin Gagnon. “In the end, we might end up the same way.” [sur le plan de l’occupation] because we will have gone to seek out a different clientele.”

Representation of Quebec

The Quebec Tourism Industry Alliance, which works hard to attract these foreign travelers here, notes this summer an 18% increase in international tourists compared to the same period last year and 4% more Canadian tourists.

“The economic contribution of a foreign tourist is just new money coming into Quebec,” says Geneviève Cantin, CEO of the Alliance.

As for the spread of the season, it is not a figment of the imagination. Nor is it a coincidence. The temperature is partly responsible, but the tourist offer has developed a lot, says Geneviève Cantin.

“Now the season is stretching out,” she confirms, “since we have establishments open until mid-October. Thanksgiving is often the last weekend, in tourist regions further away from major centres.”

According to Geneviève Cantin, the tourism training offered in Quebec has led to a professionalization of the industry which supports this longer season and supports an improved year-round offering.

This year, Quebec has enjoyed some great recognition. The Mingan Archipelago was cited among the places to visit in the world in 2024, in the New York Times. The American magazine Food & Wine has just published an article on the Bic region, which made the Vieux Loup de Mer phone ring.

“Sometimes, recognition is not instantaneous,” says Nathalie Blouin, general director of Québec maritime, an organization that promotes four tourist regions: Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspésie, Îles-de-la-Madeleine and Côte-Nord.

According to her, a mention in the New York Times or the recognition of Anticosti as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in September 2023 can encourage tourists from everywhere to come and visit Quebec, but within a radius of a few years. “It becomes part of their bucket list, she said. In their places to visit, one day.”

Maritime Quebec represents seaside vacations in Quebec, Ontario, Western Canada, the American East Coast and Europe to foreign journalists, travel agents and directly to potential visitors.

“The consumer component is spread out very early, from April,” says Nathalie Blouin, “and goes until October, because we want people to come until the fall.”

“That’s the advantage of working with European customers,” she continues, “who come a lot in September and October.”

And who put a little wool in their suitcase.