Leave it to a Montrealer to propose a municipal “menage a trois” to promote tourism.
Speaking at an Air Canada program at the Montreal airport Marriott Hotel on Thursday, Tourisme Montreal President and CEO Yves Lalumiere noted that a tourism roundtable group hasn’t been able to convince the federal government to loosen intra-provincial regulations and encourage more tourism across Canada.
Lalumiere said he’s working with Tourism Ottawa and Destination Toronto on a “cheat on your city” campaign that would encourage a kind of unofficial bubble of tourism between the three cities. Ottawa folks could cheat on their town by visiting Montreal and Toronto, and Toronto folks could combine a visit to Montreal with a stop in the nation’s capital.
“It’s a threesome,” he said with a smile.
The Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa. Photo courtesy Fairmont Chateau Laurier.And you thought Canadians were boring.
The “cheat on your city” program was something that Toronto and Montreal tried for fun in 2011. But a three-way is another thing entirely.
With many Canadians appearing reluctant to fly, and with the Atlantic provinces and Newfoundland seemingly uninterested in opening their doors to Ontario residents or folks from Quebec, Lalumiere has probably latched onto a good idea.
I don’t know if I can envision Toronto Mayor John Tory publicly uttering the word “threesome,” but he’s a good sport and no doubt would support the campaign. I suspect Montreal mayor Valerie Plante and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, a good guy I’ve met a few times, wouldn’t mind having a little fun in the interest of promoting tourism in their cities.
Downtown Montreal. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Now, in the interest of science, I have to say that a threesome with social distancing and masks isn’t quite the same as what probably goes on at the Playboy Mansion in L.A. And I don’t think we should be having open bars right now as we’re nowhere close to being out of the woods on COVID-19.
We need to act responsibly when it comes to tourism, but this is a fun concept that could spark a bit of a mini-boom in tourism in three of our biggest cities, and help attractions, hoteliers and restaurants – and their workers.
Let’s do it, Canada.
