Quebec has not reached its goal

File Photo, Daniel Mallard
The strategy of promotion of international cruises on the Saint Lawrence river was to increase annual spending from cruise ship passengers to$ 271 Million in 2014. However, in 2016, just 193,2 M$ had been spent.

Kathryne Lamontagne

Monday, 9 October 2017 00:00

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Monday, 9 October 2017 00:00

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Despite a record-breaking year, 10 years of lobbying and 52,14 M$ of public money invested, the strategy of promotion of international cruises, initiated by the ministry of Tourism of Quebec has still not generated the expected economic benefits.

Launched in 2008, the “Strategy of sustainable development and promotion of international cruises on the St-Lawrence river” would allow the province to triple the annual expenditures of cruise lines in Quebec, to build it to$ 271 Million in 2014.

However, a decade after the beginning of this initiative, which came to an end in 2016, Québec still does not are expected, according to documents obtained through the law on access to information.

The most recent data from the ministry of Tourism state that the cruise passengers have spent that 193,2 M$ in 2016, nearly$ 80 Million less than the goal, which was yet to be completed two years earlier. Quebec has no data for the year of 2014.

During the current year, 2017, is already qualified to record for the industry. The ministry of Tourism, however, is not able to estimate the impacts related to this traffic.

Passenger stopovers

In its strategy, Quebec also wanted to quadruple the number of passenger stopovers on the St. Lawrence river, in order to establish a 400 000 for 2014. However, the number of cruise passengers and crew members reached only 356 823 in 2014, nearly 50,000 under the initial goal.

The Department is however confident that the ridership record planned for 2017 will allow him to finally cross the cape of the famous 400 000 passengers-stops you want for 2014.

Three years late

All of these delays are attributable to the time required for the performance of construction and upgrade of port infrastructure, according to the explanations provided by Fannie Charette-Pépin, a spokesperson for the ministry of Tourism.

During this period, forty projects totaling approximately 156 M$ for which the province has contributed to the height of 52.1 M$ – have been initiated. According to documents obtained 26 out of the 43 projects started since 2008 were still not completed to this day.

Purpose of the ministry : 400 000 in 2014

Number of cruise passengers
Including the crew members

2013
218 204
298 748

2014
260 840
356 823

2015
269 940
373 880

2016
252 283
349 931

Forecast to 2017
337 805
466 903

Goal of ministry : to$ 271 Million in 2014

Annual spending related to cruises

2008
80.9 Million$

2010
$ 85.9 Million

2012
142,3 M$

2016
193,2 M$

Forecast to 2017
No data available