Vacationers in Old Montreal | Tourists by the thousands, moderate spending

Sunday afternoon, the last day of the construction holiday, Old Montreal is packed, despite the oppressive heat. While some establishments are having the best summer in a long time, others are seeing a brake on the spending of the thousands of tourists who roam the streets: the cost of living.

For more than 50 years, Lucien Gobeil has made a living from selling his works in Old Montreal. And even though he has seen an increase in the number of tourists over the decades around his kiosk on Place Jacques-Cartier, Mr. Gobeil made less profit this summer than last year.

“We feel that, given the economic context, people no longer have money,” explained the multidisciplinary artist, whose works can cost between $25 and $275.

“And that’s not even counting the fact that they no longer have cash,” he added, overwhelmed by the complexity that each card payment creates for him. Since he doesn’t have the necessary equipment, he has to go to a store run by his daughter not far away each time.

A little further on, on Rue de la Commune, the Oly Anger Tattoo tattoo parlor offers a walk-in service. On Sunday lunchtime, two or three people were getting tattooed inside. However, the parlor can accommodate about twenty clients at a time.

“This is the worst year I’ve seen in the last 10 years. This summer, we’re only at 45% of our traffic from last summer,” admitted tattoo artist Jessica Meza. “It’s really because of the economic climate.”

Yet thousands of people roam the surrounding streets every day.

“We feel that people want to plan their expenses more, and for what is essential. For example, people will prioritize eating out,” noted Shanny Jazz, a tattoo apprentice.

At the Museum of Illusion, we also talk about budget planning. Tourists often buy their tickets in advance online, since they plan the stop on their way and therefore in their expenses.

“Otherwise, it happens that customers raise prices [qu’ils jugent élevés] “, notes Sarah Allard, head of sales at the Museum.

According to a survey by the Transat Chair in Tourism at the University of Quebec in Montreal, nearly a third of Quebecers believe that prices are too high in Quebec, which dissuades them from travelling there.

Both establishments – a museum and a tattoo parlor – also point out that they have suffered greatly from construction sites, which have blocked important entry points for customers.

Quebec tourists

For other tourist establishments in Old Montreal, traffic is still very high during the construction holidays.

At least that’s what Adam Barakat, customer service supervisor at the Montreal Science Centre, has observed. “We’ve had people from Chicoutimi, others from Sherbrooke,” he gave as an example.

At the Seasalt restaurant, located just across the street, we see the same thing: not only do we see more Quebec tourists, but also more families.

The family of Marie-Ève ​​Arpin, who lives on the South Shore, took advantage of the last day of their vacation to spend a fully planned day in the city.

“We came to the Science Center this morning because we are going to see the Cirque du Soleil this afternoon!” explained Mr.^me Arpin, mother of Zachary, Livia and Raphaël.

Adam Barakat explains that the show currently presented by Cirque du Soleil in the Old Port attracts a lot of tourists.

Other factors

For its part, the William Gray Hotel is having its best summer in eight years. The establishment attributes its traffic to international tourism, which has fully recovered since COVID-19, and it believes that Quebec vacationing customers are taking advantage of the opportunity to get out of the province.

An observation supported by the artist Lucien Gobeil, who stopped during his discussions with The Press to meet intrigued tourists from California.

Other factors, such as good weather, influence the number of people visiting stores.

For Crèmerie Saint-Paul, for example, the last two weeks have been highly lucrative, compared to last summer, when extreme amounts of rain fell in certain regions of Quebec.

The weekend was also marked by numerous tourist events, such as the Otakuthon anime festival at the Palais des congrès and the Osheaga music festival at Parc Jean-Drapeau.

Tourisme Montréal will unveil its mid-season report for summer 2024 on August 13.