Tourisme Montréal Signs Memorandum of Understanding with the Jerusalem Conventions & Visitors Bureau

A knowledge-sharing initiative centred on religious tourism

MONTRÉAL, Nov. 16, 2016 /CNW Telbec/ - Tourisme Montréal and the Jerusalem Conventions & Visitors Bureau today announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding stemming from the Mayor of Montréal's economic mission to Israel. This mission has led to several agreements and sparked collaborative efforts in various economic sectors, including tourism.

The two tourism bureaus have agreed to work together on several matters, such as promoting urban tourism and sharing knowledge on performance indicators, statistics, tourism incubators, tourism-related crisis management, welcome strategies and technology tools to improve their respective organizations. However, faith tourism will be the top priority of the memorandum of understanding, as this segment is key for Tourisme Montréal and is growing substantially worldwide. Jerusalem is recognized as a world centre for religious tourism and welcomes millions of pilgrims every year. Meanwhile, Montréal has been experiencing a significant increase in religious tourism, particularly since the canonization of Brother André in 2010. The two tourism bureaus have agreed to discuss the issues surrounding this segment and assess any subsequent collaborative efforts.

"Since Jerusalem is one of the world's leading faith tourism destinations, the agreement with the Jerusalem Conventions & Visitors Bureau will allow Tourisme Montréal to bring innovation into our practices. We hope to broaden our expertise to advantageously position Montréal in this promising sector. Montréal wants to stand out as one of North America's top religious tourism destinations, and in order to do so, we are looking to the leaders in the field for inspiration," said Yves Lalumière, President and CEO of Tourisme Montréal.

About Tourisme Montréal
Tourisme Montréal is responsible for providing leadership in the concerted efforts of hospitality and promotion in order to position Montréal as a destination on leisure and business travel markets. It is also responsible for developing Montréal's tourism product in accordance with the ever-changing conditions of the market. For the past four years, Tourisme Montréal has been chairing Montréal's Religious Tourism Roundtable, which has implemented various actions to promote faith tourism.

For more information, visit http://www.mtl.org.

SOURCE Tourisme Montréal

Andrée-Anne Pelletier, Manager - Corporate Public Relations, Tourisme Montréal, 514-844-3344/514-264-1638, [email protected]