The tourist season is starting at a snail’s pace in Minganie on the north coast, something many industry participants regret.
Peace reigns supreme at the Vibert family’s campsite in Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan. The section near the beach is uninhabited.
“Oh that is sad. There aren’t many people. “There are a lot of people who have canceled their trip and postponed it until next year,” noted owner Emmanuelle Vibert.
In the neighboring municipality of Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan, the owner of La marinière du Nord, Monica Paquet, describes the start of the season as catastrophic.
“If I take last year’s numbers and this year’s numbers, it’s missing $10,000. It hurts,” she said.
So far, fewer than 100 people a day have visited the Manitou River Tourist Information Office.
“This year right now we have half of what we had last year. It’s still important,” said receptionist Béatrice Henley.
This drop in tourist traffic was at least partly due to the fact that, in late May, Minganie lost the only road link connecting it to the rest of Quebec.
The nine-day closure of the Touzel Bridge, the gateway to Minganie, led to numerous cancellations from tourism businesses.
However, for a month the bridge has been accessible to all recreational vehicles. In the uncertainty, the tourists changed their plan.
“We got bad press. We’re trying to tell people to come to us, we’re waiting for them, the bridge is safe,” said Monica Paquet.
The closure of the bridge was not the only element that caused fears among tourists and led to cancellations of stays.
The wildfires captured the imagination, even if they had little impact on the tourism industry.
Tourisme Côte-Nord director Joannie Francoeur-Côté is trying to reverse the trend.
“We did not take the situation lightly. We ran an additional marketing campaign on social media to encourage people to plan their North Shore vacation. 25 percent of our visitors plan at the last second.”
The tourism industry of the Côte-Nord is not giving up, especially since the season has just started.
“There are many places to welcome people, we have a lot of time to welcome them. You have the Minganie to yourself,” concluded Monica Paquet.