The hundreds of thousands of Quebecers taking vacations this summer are a veritable gold mine for restaurateurs along Highway 20.
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And the traders don’t hide it: National Day kicks off the most lucrative time of year for these private dining stops.
This obviously applies to franchisees in Madrid 2.0, the rest area in Saint-Léonard-d’Aston famous for its giant dinosaurs.
“Summer in general is really a big time, that’s when we use our strengths […] We’re expecting a very big weekend with Saint-Jean,” says Mahyka Camirand, spokeswoman for local restaurant St-Hubert Express.
Ms. Camirand, who is also the director of St-Hubert in Drummondville and a future co-franchisee of the family business, notes a sales increase of around 15% over the summer.
She also notes that the good weather, and especially the holidays, bring a different dynamic.
“When people are in vacation mode, you can feel it straight away, people stop to eat more regularly,” she says.
Estimated period in Sainte-Julie
The first summer weekend was also awaited by dealers near Highway 20 in Sainte-Julie.
Viji Gnanarajah, owner of Restaurant Scores, also estimates a 15% increase in traffic from June 23.
“Here we don’t have any accommodation in the city, so we live off tourists and motorists who drive on the highway and stop to eat,” the lady said.
She insists that industry retailers “like to have hotels nearby” to increase visitor retention rates.
The businesswoman also recalls that her client base is likely to double this summer with the return of American tourists who were again prevented from entering Quebec last year due to the pandemic.
“We expect 50% more traffic than last summer,” she predicts.
Located off Highway 20, the St-Hubert restaurant in Rivière-du-Loup is one of the busiest in the province during the summer season. Photo Louis Deschenes
Also in eastern Quebec
A stopover in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli is enough to see that the holiday season has arrived and restaurants and gas stations will take advantage of it. During our visit, the parking lots of the McDonald’s, Tim Hortons, Subway, and Normandin restaurants were full.
And that traffic is noticeable as far as Rivière-du-Loup, a town that’s considered a crossroads because people who want to go to Gaspésie or New Brunswick have to go through Rivière-du-Loup.
Additionally, due to its proximity to Highway 20, the St-Hubert restaurant is one of the busiest in the province during the summer.
Facts confirmed by owner Charles Pomerleau, who also owns a St-Hubert Express in Montmagny.
And guess what? When it came time to open this new restaurant in Montmagny with his partner Martin Pagé, Mr. Pomerleau also chose a location near Highway 20.
In numbers
Before the pandemic, the number of cars passing near Drummondville on Highway 20 daily was estimated at more than 45,000.
In the Bas-Saint-Laurent, daily traffic is significantly lower at around 10,000 vehicles per day.
Still, around 1.2 million people remain stuck at Madrid 2.0 in a year, according to pre-pandemic statistics.
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