WHY IT RATES: For travel agents with clients looking to visit Canada, the growth of Montreal makes it an alluring option when booking a vacation.-Donald Wood, Breaking News Senior Writer.
According to the latest report from Tourisme Montreal, all of Montreal's tourism performance indicators in both the business and leisure markets went up in 2017. The city's tourist volumes grew 5.1 percent over 2016, for a total of 11.1 million visitors. In addition, tourist spending increased 9.7percent to reach $4 billion for the year as a whole. Montreal recorded the highest growth in tourism among all Quebec destinations.
International tourism continued its upswing with 11 percent more overseas tourists entering Quebec in 2017. According to the Conference Board of Canada, the number of tourists from France-Montreal's leading market-grew 9 percent, while the number of Chinese tourists soared 33 percent to make China the city's second most important overseas market, ahead of the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, inbound traffic from Mexico grew 50 percent, confirming a very promising outlook for this market.
Where visitors from the U.S. are concerned, the most pronounced increase was in airborne travelers, at 11.9 percent. In all, this market grew by 4.8 percent in 2017.
Montreal-Trudeau Airport saw 18.2 million passengers, a 9.5 percent improvement over 2016. The volume of international travelers arriving at the airport was up 13.5 percent in 2017.
According to the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal, the average occupation rate for hotels on the Island was 76.5 percent at an average price of $184.31 in 2017. The average room rate was $214.10 during the summer (June to August), marking an 11.7 percent hike compared with the same period in 2016.
Business tourism was also strong last year. Montreal hosted several major events in 2017, including Destination International's Annual Convention and the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships. Tourisme Montreal's business travel team recorded more than 380,000 confirmed overnight stays in commercial accommodations, which was 15percent more than in 2016.
Events held to mark Montreal's 375th anniversary led to a six percent boost in attendance at the city's tourist attractions over 2016. In addition, several legacies of the 375th anniversary celebrations, such as Cite Memoire - Montreal en Histoire, the light displays on Jacques-Cartier Bridge and the addition of new attractions, like La Grande Roue de Montreal and the new pavilions at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Pointe-a-Calliere, have enhanced the city's entertainment profile and revived its tourism pull.
"Not only was 2017 a historic year, it also propelled Montréal onto the world stage," said Yves Lalumiere, President and CEO of Tourisme Montreal. "The city is now more vibrant and dynamic than ever! What's more, tourism was one of the main drivers of the city's economy last year. Several factors contributed to the growth in tourism, including new direct air connections, promotional efforts in the conventions market and a considerable push to market Montreal as a destination."
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