Hotel statistics for Greater Montreal show that, for the May-August period, the average hotel occupancy rate was 84.06%, an increase of 6.03 percentage points over the previous year. The average room rate was also up by 8.04%, going from $149.38 in 2013 to $161.38.
MONTREAL – Tourism is an important economic sector for the city that creates many jobs, so it’s good news that this industry is not only doing well, it is in strong growth mode. These are the findings from information compiled by Tourisme Montreal for the May-August 2014 period. Indeed, Greater Montreal’s hotel data, Quebec border crossing/entry data and Montreal airport passenger traffic data have all shown significant increases.
Hotel occupancy and rates on the rise
Hotel statistics for Greater Montreal show that, for the May-August period, the average hotel occupancy rate was 84.06%, an increase of 6.03 percentage points over the previous year. The average room rate was also up by 8.04%, going from $149.38 in 2013 to $161.38.
“This significant increase in the occupancy rate for summer 2014 is great news for hotel owners. We hope that tourists will enjoy staying in Montreal hotels, and that their experience will persuade them to continue visiting our city throughout the coming fall and winter seasons,” said Eve Pare, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal.
More international tourists
For the May-July period, the number of international tourist arrivals across the Quebec border2 from the United States and other countries rose by 7.2%. Of those arrivals, the number of U.S. tourists using an alternative mode of transportation (other than a car) for crossing the border increased by 10.5%.
“We are pleased to note that Montreal tourism performed extremely well throughout this past summer,” said Yves Lalumiere, President and Chief Executive Officer of Tourisme Montreal. “Our city stood out on the international scene for a number of reasons: the stellar line-up of events and museum exhibitions, and the abiding popularity of Old Montreal. We are also happy to see a significant return of tourists from the U.S., especially those who choose to arrive by air or land for their visit.”
Passenger traffic at Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport3 for the May-July period increased by 6.6%.
Most of the city’s major events – the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada, the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal and the Just For Laughs Festival, as well as Osheaga – had very successful editions, with record attendance from outside Quebec.
“Merchants in Old Montreal’s historic district had a lot of customers this summer,” said Mario Lafrance, General Manager of the Societe de developpement commercial du Vieux-Montreal. “In fact, a number of them told me that it was their best summer in 15 years!”
Tourisme Montreal’s unfailing efforts to attract visitors to the city
Several factors could explain Montreal’s standout summer. For starters, the business tourism sector was booming in summer 2014, as the city hosted a number – 17, to be precise – of multi-hotel conventions, compared with only seven the previous summer. These events brought some 46,400 delegates here, who took time to explore the city’s stores and attractions.
Tourisme Montreal played an active role in promoting the city as a tourist destination for the 2014 season. Here are just some of its initiatives to generate visibility and awareness for the city’s tourism industry:
Tourisme Montreal regularly promotes Montreal among the Quebec, Ontario and Northeastern United States markets. This year, in addition to its annual promotional efforts, Tourisme Montreal invested heavily in the Toronto market, to position Montreal as a top, short-stay urban destination. Two major campaigns were rolled out this summer, ensuring ongoing visibility for the city. The goal of the two campaigns was to position the city as a dynamic centre for professional sports, via the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada, and also for music, via the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal. Through these two events, Tourisme Montreal was able to interact with consumers using contests, a web media campaign, blogger strategies and media relations.
All these initiatives combined resulted in a 70% increase in traffic on the mobile site, a 14% increase on the blog and an 8% increase on Tourisme Montreal’s site.
The #MTLMOMENTS campaign continues to spearhead our other efforts, generating close to 10,000 tweets and more than 50,000 Instagram photos in 2014, in addition to a 209% increase in Instagram followers.
These are just some of the initiatives undertaken by Tourisme Montreal this year that have contributed to an extremely positive report of the summer 2014 tourism season.
Tatiana is the news coordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes monitoring the hundreds of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skimming the most important according to our strategy.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
