What do F1 fans think of Montreal?
Tourists arriving for the Canadian Grand Prix see the city in a much rosier color than the locals do.
Over the weekend, Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve hosted another Formula One Canadian Grand Prix at Montréal, in the province of Quebec. Thousands of tourists came to the city, among them quite a few avid car racing fans. Montreal Gazette decided to talk to visitors to Quebec City's largest city to find out what they thought of Montreal. And most of the tourists are delighted.
The first thing fans note is the easy access to the race track. The transportation infrastructure makes it easy to get to the race site by subway.
“I’ve been to many Grand Prix races around the world, but this one is my favourite. The race is always spectacular and the access to the track and back to the city by subway is just fantastic. For the F1 races we’ve gone to in Germany, Belgium and Japan, we’ve had to drive an hour, then had to find parking for an hour, then took a really long walk to the tracks.” — says Ed Broughton, a retired pharmacist from New Jersey. He has attended the F-1 Grand Prix of Canada 20 times, and this year he brought his wife and four children to the sporting event for the first time.
"The best part here is taking the subway to the track. That’s what makes this Grand Prix really stand out from the others: easy access." — declares Pedro de Aranda. He works as a jewelry designer and lives in Dubai. He has also been to Formula One Grand Prix around the world, and the Canadian stage is his favorite.
"We’ve been to the Grand Prix in Austin, but it was an absolute nightmare to get around there. But it’s just so easy to get around here." — notes Glenn Webster, a tourist from Chicago. He also came to Montreal with his wife. The couple has attended every Grand Prix since 2010.
The fact that the city is undergoing rapid road construction does not really bother tourists, unlike the locals, who because of this can not always get to their destination comfortably. Tourists, in response to mentions of road problems, once again praise the availability of public transportation.
Praise from Formula 1 fans and Montreal itself. I love it here — the spirit of the town, the warmth of the people here." — says the aforementioned Glenn. "And everywhere you go, it’s all so organized, too." — adds his wife Trish.
"This city is just so alive.Such a great city for walking and exploring. What I love is that you don’t feel the stress here that we feel in the big cities of the States. We feel much more secure here." — Pedro shares.
"Montreal has been magical for us." — says Alberto Serracin-Pitti. He proposed to his future wife, Bella, at Mont Royal. The couple came to the city this year for their first Formula One Grand Prix.
"I particularly love coming here and being immersed in French, and I love the cultural aspects of it. And it’s so pedestrian friendly, too." — Alberto continues. "Montreal has the best energy in Canada." — Bella shares her impressions.
So what do those who serve these tourists think about it? Glenn Castanheira, executive director of the SDC Montréal centre-ville, admits that public transport is a huge plus in Montreal. He also thinks downtown Montreal is more beautiful than most of the places that F1 tourists have visited before.
He also notes that "Grand Prix for downtown Montreal is Black Friday and Christmas and Valentine’s Day and Fête Nationale and Canada Day and Mother’s Day all rolled together" in terms of the revenue generated by commerce and other businesses that depend on tourists.
From Castanheira's words, it is difficult to measure how much revenue this weekend brought. However, we can guess based on some data. For example, more than 70 downtown hotels are nearly 100 percent occupied. That's the highest figure for the year. Restaurants and stores are also making big profits. The Grand Prix weekend brings such revenues that establishments can live relatively peacefully until the end of the year. In the absence of tourists, merchants, hoteliers and restaurant owners cannot earn as much because Montrealers are in no hurry to visit their establishments because of the aforementioned traffic problems.
Even before the start of the Grand Prix, Yves Lalumière, Director of Tourisme Montréal, estimated that the weekend's revenues could amount to CAD 80 million.
