Montreal’s restaurant and hotel sector managed to recover from the pandemic and health restrictions by recording an increase in consumer spending in the winter of 2023, according to a recent report.
According to Moneris, in a study published on Monday, F&B saw a 38% increase in spending between February 2022 and 2023, while hotels saw an 87% increase.
This period corresponds to the end of Igloofest and the beginning of Montreal in Lights, festivals that celebrated their major in-person event for the first time since the health crisis.
“COVID restrictions were also maintained until mid-March 2022, boosting growth in early 2023,” the report said.
While tourism developed quite well in the metropolis in the winter of 2023, the same cannot be said for retail, which recorded “one of the largest declines”.
Purchases of clothing (-20%), in supermarkets (-30%) and in second-hand stores (-29%) fell between May 2022 and 2023.
In contrast, off-price stores experienced 24% growth over the same period.
“Retail spending rebounded 4% in August, which could be a sign of optimism as the holidays approach,” however, Moneris noted.