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.
When we speak of package tours by coach, it usually means the traditional “tour and travel”. We think at once of customers who are pensioners or persons taking early retirement. Today, we notice a wave of rejuvenation: the average age of the passengers is closer to 55 years than the age of the pensioner (65 [...]
Read moreThe increased number of polls used to determine travel intentions has contributed to the tools used by industry decision-makers. Unfortunately, the existence of more surveys has not necessarily translated into a more accurate portrait of the future. In fact, a look back uncovers major discrepancies between Canadian travel intentions and actual travel. It is common [...]
Read moreIn the travel industry, the most challenging aspect of staff planning is adjusting the number of available workers to meet tourism demand, which fluctuates widely, depending on the time of year. Managers must therefore be able to predict this demand and use the information to determine the number of employees needed. Cornell University recently examined [...]
Read moreA 2003 survey by Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown & Russell (YPB&R) found that one-third of grandparents have travelled with their grandchildren in the last twelve months. In the United States, more than 15% of travel includes children with grandparents. About 21% of this intergenerational travel does not include the children’s parents. Travelling with the family unit [...]
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