Tourism Quebec of Today and Tomorrow

A New Flagship Strategy for the Department

The Quebec Ministry of Tourism recently launched its new Sustainable Tourism Growth Strategy 2025-2030. These are the main strategic directions of the Department, from which several other strategies and action plans flow (See list here).

It follows the Action Plan for Responsible and Sustainable Tourism 2020-2025 Which marked a new turn for the industry. The objective was to accelerate the transition to responsible and sustainable tourism by equipping tourism businesses and organizations. The results have not been communicated but according to my observations, actions have been put in place for each of the 13 objectives.

This Strategy can be seen as a new stage in the “maturity” of sustainable development in the sector. It consolidates the responsible and sustainable tourism approach by integrating it into a more global vision of growth.

Communities, the backbone of tourism

Without detailing or summarizing this Strategy, Rather, I wanted to bring to your attention a pattern that emerged from them and that did not seem to be present in their previous strategies. This is the territorial and community development approach, judging by the most mentioned keywords (regions, communities, communities, cooperation, actors and partners), by the vision of “Making Quebec a prosperous and sustainable tourist destination that makes The Pride of the People Here ” and by the importance given to tourism workers and local communities.

The Strategy Positions Tourism Development as A way to contribute to the vitality of communities and to the occupation of the land. For This, She Encourages the Support for projects emanating from communities, a bottom-up approach (Bottom-up), which contrasts with the top-down approach that we are used to seeing (and doing)!

Here is therefore an analysis of the new Strategy of the Quebec Ministry of Tourism through the prism of community roots (means used) and regional vitality (objective sought).

Territorial, intersectoral and concerted intervention approach

The Strategy highlights that Development Must Be Carried Out by Regional and Local Actors, Through the Cooperation and Collaboration of Several Actors : regional and sectoral tourism associations, businesses, municipal authorities, local communities. The Department has a key role as a facilitator., since it aims to collaborate more with its interministerial partners working on the occupancy and vitality of territories to promote the expertise of tourism associations in the sustainable socio-economic development of territories and communities.

The Strategy Highlights The importance of intersectoral partnerships as a lever for regional development. It recognizes that tourism is interlinked with other sectors, such as culture, bio-food, transport, the environment and territorial development. In this sense, strengthening collaborations between tourism actors and those in other fields is essential to ensure sustainable tourism management, but also to improve the recognition of the transversal role of tourism in the Quebec economy and society. To do this, the Ministry of Tourism will, for example, intensify its collaboration with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

In the last year, The Manicouagan Uapishka biosphere region on the North Shore has often been given as an example to illustrate this approach. It has adopted participatory and adaptive territorial management with organizations present in the territory in order to approach tourism development and the preservation of the environment in a concerted manner. This made it possible to facilitate the social acceptability of tourism development and to prevent conflicts of use.

Partnerships for Business Support

The Ministry also connects on regional and local mechanisms to support businesses. In addition to financial programs for businesses administered by tourism associations (21 regional and 12 sectoral), the Ministry wants them to update their Role in providing support and advice to businesses.

It also connects on the support ecosystem of the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, through its SME access network, which offers a support service to entrepreneurs via MRCs (groups of municipalities). The objective is to promote the integration of tourism into local socio-economic development and to guide tourism businesses.

In addition, one of the directions of the Strategy focuses on business performance and the vitality of the industry, recognizing the importance of business models rooted locally and regionally. In this look, The social economy model is increasingly valued in the tourism industry, for its ability to meet the needs of communities, to contribute to their vitality and to develop tourism in harmony with them (see my article on the subject: Is collective entrepreneurship in tourism essential for our destinations?).

For communities in harmony with tourism development

From the outset, the preamble to the Strategy establishes a human-centered vision of the tourism ecosystem. By aiming to make Quebec a “prosperous and sustainable destination that people here are proud of”, It recognizes that tourism development must first be consistent with the aspirations of residents. The Strategy thus puts forward quality of life, accessibility and inclusiveness as the foundations of meaningful tourism. She insists on the importance of social acceptability and harmonious cohabitation between visitors and host environments.

It also introduces the Regenerative perspective, inviting the industry not only to limit its impacts, but also to actively contribute to the revitalization of the places visited. This echoes the approach taken by Destination Canada and by more and more DMOs in the country (see my article on the subject: Taking Care of Your Destination: The Canadian Approach).

A lever for the vitality of regions

Ownership of tourism development by local communities is one of the pillars of the Strategy. Until now, they were considered mainly in order to “take care of themselves” (generate economic benefits for them, minimize the impacts of tourism in their environment, develop tourism that respects communities, etc.). This Strategy sets a new tone, considering communities as agents of change for the sustainable growth of tourism across the province.

However, a gap remains in the Strategy: The lack of indicators and targets to measure impacts in communities Beyond the Economic Dimension...

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At a time when tourism is perceived as a factor of imbalance, the industry in Quebec wishes to position itself as a driver of dynamic land occupancy and regional vitality. It is therefore time to work out of silos and to expand our ecosystem in order to consider tourism no longer as an end, but a way to vitalize our regions and develop communities where life is good.