La référence québécoise en information sur les tendances en tourisme
After I earned my B.A. in Finance, I had no idea that a long backpacking trip would fuel a desire to learn more about the world of tourism. However, as Hippolyte Taine so brilliantly noted, “One travels not to change locations, but ideas.” My new passion led me to join the Chair in Tourism team in 1996. I contributed to a variety of research projects over the years, covering topics such as winter tourism, the cruise industry, charter bus transportation, distribution networks, zoos and aquariums, ecotourism, adventure travel and water sports.
I then had the opportunity to be part of the birth of an exciting new project: the Tourism Intelligence Network. I now work as the Network’s senior researcher, approaching my work with the same enthusiasm I felt at the beginning of my career, primarily because of my extraordinary colleagues and a constant stream of new challenges. My fields of expertise are distribution networks, the online travel market and outdoor tourism.
For the first time, US research firm PhoCusWright has conducted a comprehensive study of the online travel marketplace in Canada: the Canadian Online Travel Overview. Though it has long been thought that Canadians lag behind Americans when it comes to using the Internet to plan and purchase travel, this report finally provides an overview of [...]
Read moreNow the Canadian dollar has reached parity with its US counterpart, many questions are being raised. Without doubt, Canada’s performance in the American tourist market has been disappointing in recent years and the inexorable rise of the Canadian dollar in 2007 has only increased the level of anxiety in our industry. However, is our tourism [...]
Read moreIn an earlier Globe-Veilleur article, we explained why Facebook has quickly become one of the top virtual communities and a new social phenomenon unto itself. We are now going to examine its sphere of influence within the tourism industry, as many Quebec businesses are starting to make use of it. Some concrete examples from the [...]
Read moreIn the summer of 2006, we drew attention to the important phenomenon of Web 2.0. Since then, a great many Web users have become familiar with virtual online communities and several players have really started to stand out. One such site is Facebook, which is the process of establishing itself as a mainstay of the [...]
Read moreThe sector of so-called traditional travel agencies has probably undergone more upheaval than any other over the past decade. And yet, despite the popularity of the internet, the events of September 11, 2001, and the advent of zero commissions, agencies have learned to adapt, reinventing themselves in the process. Though many consumers have become devotees [...]
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