Jean-Phillipe Thibault, LJI Journalist
GASPÉ – The Town of Gaspé is launching its first-ever Four-season sustainable destination strategy. The roadmap is described as ambitious and aims to guide the territory’s tourism development “in a harmonious, environmentally friendly manner that benefits the entire community.”
Mayor of Gaspé, Daniel Côté notes that Gaspé is one of the first towns in Quebec to adopt such a plan. “For our destination, we expect to become a Quebec leader in sustainable tourism, authentic tourism, and four-season tourism. We anticipate an improvement in the quality of life for residents.”
For the mayor, sustainable development is no longer an option. “It must practically be an obligation. It’s a condition for success. We can no longer conduct development the way we did 100 years ago.”
The strategy unveiled on June 25 is structured around four priority areas of intervention: sustainable mobility and connectivity, four-season tourism, environmental preservation and responsible management, as well as collaborative governance and sustainable strategy.
“This strategy is an element that will guide our actions in sustainable tourism for years to come […] It gives us the tools to develop a thriving tourism economy that respects our exceptional environment and contributes directly to the quality of life of our citizens,” adds Daniel Côté.
Four Seasons
Earlier this year, Gaspé hosted winter cruises for the first time, welcoming Le Commandant Charcot. The town administration sees this as just the beginning of its four-season tourism development.
“We’ve put ourselves on the map with this, but it’s a bit of a pretext to promote genuine winter tourism development,” notes Daniel Côté. We’ve been talking about it for years, but we’ve taken the bull by the horns and it’s a development area we’re going to focus on. We’re still in a summer tourism paradigm. The results are starting to show, but we’re still very tied to summer.”
To support fall tourism, a $50,000 grant was provided earlier to the Berceau du Canada team to enable operations during peak international cruise season. The town’s proposed new arena project is also back in the spotlight. The mayor believes such infrastructure would help support both sports and event tourism.
Other potential growth areas include backcountry skiing and snowmobiling—“when it snows,” Côté notes.
Daniel Côté is also open to artificial snowmaking at Mont Bechervaise, which is owned by the Town.
“Studies are underway and we are contributing to them, but there are a million technical issues […] There are different options on the table, and I think it will become a priority,” he explains.
The next steps of the Four-Season sustainable destination strategy will include the establishment of a monitoring committee to oversee the implementation of the action plan and the search for funding to carry out priority projects. The full report on the process is available for consultation on the Town of Gaspé’s website.