American tourists have simply stopped visiting Montreal and la belle province.
Americans have only been required to present a passport to enter Canada since 2009, a switch that hurts, as over half of all Americans do not even own passports.
Under six percent of all tourism in the province comes from the United States, 88 percent of Quebec tourists are from Quebec.
Quebec welcomed 4.2 million tourists a decade ago. We now struggle to get two million.
This is particularly hard to swallow as Americans are spending more than ever on leisure travel and the 80 cent Canadian dollar makes it a cheap place to visit. (Anywhere is cheap with the strong greenback these days however.)
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| No I'm not planning to visit Montreal |
The tourism drought isn't about our hurt vanity: Quebec now has a staggering tourism deficit of over $3 billion per year, according to stats from 2012.
Want more? Quebec received 900,000 fewer American tourists than it did a decade ago.
The more we spend on tourism bureaucrats and plans, the more tourists stay away. The head of Tourisme Montreal earns - brace yourself now - $400,000 a year. Refund please.
AirBnB listings, which offered a promise of revival by offering lodgings of as little as $15 a night, have been targeted in a misguided attack by authorities.
The decline is ongoing. Our recent Formula One Canadian Grand Prix attracted fewer out-of-towners and the raunchy hallmark excesses have been replaced by tame family-oriented amusements for locals.
The jazz festival barely has any big names, suggesting that the organizers have tossed in the trombone.
So what did we have in Montreal 10, 12 years ago that we don't have today? You might not like the answer.
So what did we have in Montreal 10, 12 years ago that we don't have today? You might not like the answer.
Back then tourist buses filled with 19-year-old Americans from Boston would roll into town as kids saw us as a spot to get hammered legally and stagger into local strip joints.
Montreal was a boozier bawdier, more lawless place, a city known for biker shoot-ups, brazen jaywalkers, sexy serveuse restaurants, cocaine in bars, underaged youth easily being served anywhere.
We had le danger and le desperation and le unpredictability.
We had le danger and le desperation and le unpredictability.
We were an open city of the north, with mayhem on tap, not unlike during the days of prohibition. But then we got safe and boring.
And yes, we had our beloved Expos. The Expos left in 2004, thus taking us off the American map.
According to one study, 11 percent of all fans at Montreal Expos games were from out of the province. The city was mentioned one billion times per year in various publications thanks to the Expos, which had a value of $22 million in free advertising.
And while we are aware that correlation does not imply causation, one would have to be blind not to notice that American tourism here flatlined after the Great American Pastime left town.
So the solutions seem pretty simple: let the booze flow, pension some cops off and get the Expos back.
So the solutions seem pretty simple: let the booze flow, pension some cops off and get the Expos back.
Classic modus econmica!
ReplyDeleteAgain with the baseball, always with the baseball… I for one welcome our new soccer overlords ;)
ReplyDeleteI will say that I've noticed recently that there are a LOT of cops in this city, I probably cross their path about five times a day on average, which feels excessive. And yes, Montreal seems tamer than when I moved here nine years ago. For better or for worse.
Good point about passports, but I would think that all Canadian cities have been affected by this. I'd be curious to know if they've also seen their tourism numbers drop off.
"Americans have only been required to present a passport to enter Canada since 2009, a switch that hurts, as over half of all Americans do not even own passports. "
ReplyDeleteMore than half of Canadians don't have passports, either. And at land crossings (not sea or air), Americans do notneed a passport to enter Canada. But they need it to get back into the USA. Important nuance.
$400k salary for the Tourism Montreal head? Yeah, that's insane. Hard to disagree with that.
And baseball? Really? The Expos left 11 years ago and there are still people living in the past losing sleep ovet that?
Valid point about passports. I would also add that the Canadian dollar has been over 80 cents and sometimes above par for the past 10 years. And it was a little over 60 cents for a few years before 2005. I remember Americans jaywalking on St Catherine with 2 shopping bags in each hand. They were rushing to finish their shopping before the stores closed.
ReplyDeleteAnd in my opinion, hotels jacked up their prices because Americans were able to afford it with the strong American dollar. But the dollar is weaker and hotel prices have stayed the same. I suppose that Americans no longer see us as North Mexico.
One more thing. Bars (gentleman clubs) also caught on and raised their prices. No more $3 US beer.
Escorts did the same thing.
This whole thing about stuff being cheap for Americans in Montreal is a myth and always has been. Example: A Triple Venti latte at just about any Starbucks in the US is somewhere around $4.50. The same drink at a Montreal Starbucks will run you six bucks Canadian. This works out to the exchange rate plus another 10% or so. Everything from cameras, to socks to restaurant meals will work out the same way. Alcohol will be much worse. Montreal is an expensive city regardless of the currency you have in your pocket. All that sweet cash for $7.00 daycare and 400k Directors of Tourism has to come from somewhere.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Americans outside of New England and Upstate NY barely know Montreal exists. The Americans I work with only recently stopped asking me if Montreal is "the one with the crack mayor".
"The jazz festival barely has any big names, suggesting that the organizers have tossed in the trombone."
ReplyDeleteWayne Shorter, the Bad Plus, Joshua Redman, Joe Lovano, John Scofield, Bill Stewart, Larry Grenadier, Al Dimeola, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Charnett Moffat, Stanley Jordan, Tain Watts, James Cotton, John Mayall, Stanley Clarke, Enrico Rava, Christian Scott, Robert Glasper, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Bill Frisell, Brian Blade, Ron Miles, Gary Bartz, Al Foster, Harold Maybern, Richard Galliano, Vijay Iyer, Ingrid Jensen, Nels Cline, Julian Lage, Abdullah Ibrahim, Russel Malone, John Pizzarelli, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ron Freaking Carter, John Medeski, Oliver Jones ...
By any standard, that's about as impressive a list of currently-performing jazz (defined broadly) musicians booked into a single festival that you're gonna see.
The U.S. could and should know that Canada exists.
ReplyDeleteHow many U.S. cable TV companies offer our Canadian networks as part of their "a la carte" grid the way Canadian cable companies have traditionally done showing the U.S. networks.
South of the border they can watch European news, the Korean Channel, Japanese Channel, Golf Channel, and countless trivial offerings so why doesn't Canada promote our programming to them? If the Free Trade agreement doesn't currently include television, it ought to be.
I'm sure Detroit residents have watched Canadian channels directly for decades. If we promoted ourselves more via cable media, it would generate more tourism.
But...they already knew that, right?
@UrbanLegend - Which excellent Canadian TV shows do you suggest for export?
ReplyDeleteBeachcombers
DeleteYou may have a point regarding Canada's often dreary televised programming, but remember that while we at home may cringe at seeing our corny selves, outsiders will see us differently, even if only out of curiosity, as a welcome alternative to what they are fed on their "boob tubes".
ReplyDeleteAt least, that is my theory as to why Canadians generally favour U.S. and imported U.K. television content over our own: it is an escape from our own perceived dreariness.
Then again, you have to wonder how millions of U.S. TV viewers continue to watch reality shows and stupid so-called "situation comedies" decade after decade complete with canned laughter and racial stereotyping; social engineering being the obvious motive.
Personally, rather than pay for a grid of worthless cable or "fibe" channels most of which I would never watch anyway (even if I had the time to do so), I now prefer online content from which I can select exactly what I am in the mood for and when I want to see it.
That all being said, Canada's reputation and image abroad ought to generate some interest in our television productions, particularly our documentaries.
Here's more proof that foreign countries are less aware of Canada than they ought to be. Considering worldwide access to satellite TV, whose fault is this?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.com/news/business-33324426
the U.S.A. is more like a continent than a country. Sure they speak only the one language but there's a variety of cultures, climates, geography that can take a lifetime to visit. It's legit for an American to only visit the rest of the United States.
ReplyDeleteHe's right though, Baseball: A family past-time. Look, 19 year old visitors are buying liquor, condoms, lube and a stupid t-shirt. They don't have a lot of disposable income, and since Montreal is significantly more expensive than the U.S., they aren't a reliable source of income.
ReplyDeleteWhat Montreal lost, and keeps losing, is the family crowd, the people who'd go to a baseball game and eat at a family restaurant and stay in hotels and consume goods other than fast food & alcohol. 12 years ago, Montreal had a hell of a lot more food options that weren't on the very high-end; there was more 'family' fun. Downtown Montreal doesn't really have anything for families. Toronto has the CN Tower, Ripley's and Baseball, and family events at the Habour Front, not to mention the CNE, a children's museum, a science museum, the hockey hall of fame, Medieval times, Historic sites all in walking distance and all easily accessible. Surrounded by those areas are family-oriented dining establishments -- sure you can eat at Canoe or P-on-Front and other high-end establishments, but you can also eat the Works, East Side Mario's, or Jack Astor's. There's a lot of family-oriented fun and it's inundated with people down there. That's what Montreal lost. Families have money and they spend it. 19 year olds throwing-up at the McDonald's on Ste Catherine Street who drank $90 worth of liquor aren't contributing in the same way a family will, especially considering what they're investing in.
Baseball was key.
Why must a city's economy revolve only around this "arena mentality" which is continually perpetuated as the answer to saving our economy? Have we gone back to the days of the Roman Colosseum--then the biggest thrill in town?
ReplyDeleteIt must be asked: what can possibly be so "entertaining" as to sit in the "cheaper seats" so far back from the field-of-play and squint at distant specks running around? Watch the jumbotron instead? Where is the "thrill" in that?
When television first became a common household item, restaurant and nightclub owners feared that business would drop off significantly and that people would prefer to stay at home. Decades later when VCRs came on the market, it was feared that movie theatre attendance would drop off. Those fears have indeed come true to a certain extent, but not entirely.
Society has changed, of course, with new immigrants from vastly different climates and cultures favouring alternative pastimes. Families with limited incomes prefer to barbecue in city parks rather than trek downtown to seek limited, over-priced parking spaces and then to buy expensive movie theatre tickets and restaurant meals.
High sales taxes have also killed much of what many people used to do and buy on a regular basis. Recently, I saw a food truck at the Old Port charging $1.25 for a single cookie!
Movie theatres used to charge $1.25 entry and often less for a double feature. Restaurant lunch meals were under $2.00. Montreal's parking meters were deliberately placed only in obscure areas and were not the ubiquitous cash cow they are today. Fuel prices were affordable. Transit fares and taxi rides were cheap. Magazines were less than a dollar. Big stadium seat prices, once reasonable, are now comparable to an average person's weekly income.
There is something wrong with our values when sports players are handed outrageous multi-million dollar contracts when their sense of team loyalty is limited or non-existent in any case upon threat of switching to another team willing to pay them more. They are rich whether they win or lose, so where is their incentive to win the championship?
Quite frankly, these "sports heroes" are boring with little if any personality. Indeed, the more we know about their personal lives, the less "heroic" they seem. Their pithy, pre and post-game comments have been repeated countless times before by their predecessors, who, for the most part, had class and played for the love of the game and not for the money.
Do today's players actually NEED all of that money? What do they DO with it all, anyway? Buy another three or more luxurious homes complete with pools and Ferraris in every garage?
I can only imagine how they and the billionaire owners they work for are laughing at the suckers who feed their brazen self-importance.
Lest we forget:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vox.com/2014/7/1/5843316/the-case-for-canada?ref=yfp
Fred Waring opened up tourism to the Pocono Mountains with the opening of his Shawnee Inn...and the Pocono Mountains retained a Montrealer -- Stephen Pickford, who later went on to host and produce Travel World Radio Show -- to organize and promote themselves to the Canadian media, getting time on Bill Luxton's show on CJOH and a full page in the Toronto Sun. Instead of paying 400K and getting little bang for the buck, Tourisme Montreal should be retaining Mr. Pickford and getting his media contacts in the ROC and USA working to get Montreal in newspapers and on radio and TV.
ReplyDeleteNobody visits because there is no tolerance or flexibility for speaking or reading English. Montreal is full of snobby and ignorant people who will look down on any English speaking American visitor.
ReplyDelete