Local tourism numbers ‘the best since Expo 67’

By the end of the year, more than 11 million tourists will have spent $3.6 billion in the Montreal region, according to an estimate prepared by the Conference Board of Canada for Tourisme Montreal released on Tuesday.

“It was a marvellous year, the best since Expo 67,” said Pierre Bellerose, the vice-president of the non-profit tourism promotion agency.

The agency said tourism numbers were up across the board — with more people crossing the border from the United States and an increase in airline passenger traffic. In total, Tourisme Montreal said the number of international visitors to the city was up by six per cent.

“We have overall growth from all destinations, we have growth from specific markets, like the Mexican market and the Chinese market, and growth for a lot of our attractions and festivals,” Bellerose said.

The agency says the number of visitors from Mexico rose by 119.3 per cent, while the number of visitors from China was up 32.1 per cent.

Bellerose credited the increase in Mexican visitors to the federal government dropping a visa requirement last December, but he said some Mexican travellers may be looking farther north as a result of U.S. politics.

“I think the first reason is the visa, but I have to agree that the political situation in the States helps Canada in general,” he said.

While the city’s 375th anniversary played a role in increasing tourism, Yves Lalumière, the president and CEO of Tourisme Montreal, said only one in three visitors to Montreal this year were aware of the anniversary and its associated events before they arrived.

Tourisme Montreal says the $3.6 billion in tourist spending is an increase of 9.9 per cent when compared with last year. However, in March, when the agency reported final tourism numbers for 2016, it said tourists spent $3.3 billion in Montreal that year. That’s a difference of 9.09 per cent.

When asked to clarify the apparent discrepancy, Andrée-Anne Pelletier, the manager of corporate public relations at Tourisme Montreal, would only say that its “forecasts evolve constantly throughout the year.”

Bellerose said the increase in tourist spending was largely because of an increase in hotel prices, along with an increase in the overall number of tourists.

In 2016, 10.2 million tourists visited Montreal, according to Tourisme Montreal, up from 9.6 million the year before. The agency is forecasting a small increase in the number of tourists for 2018.

“We know that we’ll have a lot of conventions,” Bellerose said, crediting that to the city’s strong economy.

While the number of visitors in town for the Formula One rose 15 per cent, Lalumière said the agency didn’t have any information about the tourism impact for the Formula E electric car race.

The city is also seeing an increase in the number of cruise ships docking in the city. A new cruise terminal opened this summer.

Cruise ship traffic is forecast to rise 20 per cent in 2017 and between 15 and 20 per cent next year, Bellerose said.

The United States remains the No. 1 country of origin for tourists to Montreal.