Tourisme Montréal celebrates 100 years of serving the city: 1,000 dedicated partners, 1 giant playground

MONTRÉAL, May 10, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - Tourisme Montréal kicked off its 100th anniversary celebrations this morning. The organization was founded on October 8, 1919 by the Automobile Club of Canada with support from a handful of key players in the local economy. Since then, Tourisme Montréal has had the privilege of witnessing the major events that pushed the city onto the world stage, including Expo 1967, the 1976 Summer Olympic Games and the creation of the Grand Prix du Canada.

"We want to capitalize on Tourisme Montréal's centennial year to honour everyone who has helped make us successful. We will be holding events and organizing initiatives throughout the year to pay tribute to the past and look ahead to the city's future," said Yves Lalumière, President and CEO of Tourisme Montréal.

Tourisme Montréal is one of the oldest tourism boards in North America. The organization works tirelessly with its 1,000 members and partners to promote the city as a leisure and business travel destination, while producing innovative campaigns to target local and external markets, and developing initiatives that help define the city as a giant playground.

Montréal now ranks as Canada's leading city for economic growth. In 2018, Montréal's tourism industry generated 57,200 jobs and $2.6 billion in wages across the province. It contributed $3.56 billion to Quebec's gross domestic product. The organization also doubled the number of room nights booked in the city between 1977 and 2018, from 2.3 million to 4.6 million. 

Tourisme Montréal intends to keep the momentum going strong and aims to attract 12.5 million tourists per year by 2022 (+2 million over 2019), for an annualized growth rate of 6%. The organization also plans to increase citizen-led initiatives and projects aimed at making the city more beautiful. Now more determined than ever to work closely with its partners, the tourism board firmly believes that Montréal, the official gateway to Quebec, is on track to becoming one of North America's leading urban tourist destinations.

The special programming for Tourisme Montréal's 100th anniversary is made possible by the following partners: Palais des congrès de Montréal, Aéroports de Montréal and the Port of Montréal.

For more information, visit www.mtl.org.

SOURCE Tourisme Montréal