Montreal tourist industry pins hopes to return of global travellers on Sept. 7
The tourists have been coming back… but very slowly, say Montreal businesses. They say the border reopening planned for Tuesday is deeply needed.
As of Sept. 7, all international travellers, and not just Americans, will be able to visit Canada if they are fully vaccinated.
Local merchants say the difference should be noticeable immediately, business-wise. That’s because non-American tourists have a different approach.
“Usually American visitors come for two to three days per stay, and tourists from France usually stay 11 days,” said Francis Bouchard of Tourisme Montreal.
So far in summer 2021, news has been good for the industry, said Bouchard -- it’s just been a slow and steady process after last year’s economic bottoming-out.
“We've doubled or tripled the amount of visitors we've had in the [tourist] attractions,” he said.
Of Tuesday’s new rules, he said, “we think international visitors will have an important impact on the numbers here.”
This year’s tourism numbers may be up from last year, but it’s still nowhere near the record numbers of 2019, when 11 million people visited Montreal.
Some tourists who have ventured back out—all Canadian and American—told CTV that it felt relatively safe, compared to before, and was also one of the only options, considering various tight international restrictions.
“We think it's safer to travel now and we took all the right precautions and came to see my parents,” explained one tourist from Vancouver who was visiting the Old Port.
“For sure we are scared to come back with something, but it’s beautiful here,” said another family, from Hamilton, Ont. “It's a getaway and such a nice city to go to.”
Montreal’s one of the safer options in North America, say experts, with one of the highest vaccination rates in the continent.
Coupled with its vaccination passport, that might make the city more attractive to some international visitors than Manhattan, Bouchard said.
With festivals lined up for fall, the next few months are looking like an especially strong prospect.
A health expert said the risks are also fairly low for Montrealers, considering the vaccination requirement. Going back to work and back to school are more likely to drive case numbers up than tourism, said Dr. Don Sheppard.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.