Tourisme Outaouais tells annual general meeting that bookings rose nearly six per cent in 2025

Tashi Farmilo

Tourisme Outaouais, the non-profit body that markets the region to travellers and works alongside the Quebec government on tourism, told members at its 45th annual general meeting on September 30 at the Maison O'Brien that nights of accommodation booked in the Outaouais climbed nearly six per cent in 2025. Those present also heard a review of 2025-2026 and elected a new board.

Set up by industry operators more than 40 years ago, the organization handles regional co-ordination, visitor welcome, promotion, sales and product development. The Quebec Tourism Department supplied the booking figures, which Tourisme Outaouais read as proof that the destination is gaining ground.

Business travel supplied much of the lift. Quebec and Loto-Québec, the Crown corporation that owns the Lac-Leamy casino complex in Hull, unveiled a $50-million convention centre for the site on April 27, 2025. The province said Loto-Québec would cover the cost, sparing local taxpayers, and that construction would take roughly two years while the existing meeting rooms stayed in use. In response, Quebec handed Tourisme Outaouais a $1.5-million contract to chase conventions and events from across Canada and abroad, and to make sure the benefits spread across the whole region. Seven events were confirmed within four months, adding up to 3,032 nights and more than $1.6 million in local economic activity.

The Outaouais also ranks with Montreal and Quebec City as one of three official gateways to Quebec for visitors, a status the organization says keeps provincial dollars flowing. The department added $1 million to its support last April so a winter product could be built that holds up in changing conditions. Grant programs run by the province and by Tourisme Outaouais sent just over $1.7 million to businesses and groups for projects around the region.

Not everything went smoothly, however. Water damage on September 16, 2025, forced the Gatineau Maison du tourisme to relocate both its administrative offices and its visitor welcome counter. The organization said the episode pushed it to speed up a strategy of meeting travellers where they already are, instead of waiting for them to walk in.

Elsewhere, it launched a rebuilt website and refreshed #OutaouaisFun, its regional branding line. Its two food events, L'Outaouais au menu (now in its third year) and L'Outaouais en cuisine (its second), gave a stage to chefs, restaurateurs, rising talent and producers. Staff also toured the region's five territories last fall, namely the Vallée-de-la-Gatineau, Papineau, the Collines-de-l'Outaouais, the Pontiac and Gatineau, to hear from members and shape the next strategic plan.

Lélia Bâcle-Mainguy, of Biscotti & cie in the Collines-de-l'Outaouais, continues as board chair. Directors thanked Michel Merleau for his years on the board, including a stint as vice-chair from 2021 to 2025, and welcomed Claude Montreuil, of Caya Ranch, who replaces him as a representative of the Vallée-de-la-Gatineau. On the executive, Lise Sarazin, who represents the Lac-Leamy casino complex, is now secretary-treasurer, a post Brittany Morin of Parc Aventure des Chutes Coulonge held over the past year and for which the board thanked her. Morin remains a director for the Pontiac. Hélène Léger, of Centre de Vie in Papineau, is vice-chair.

"The 2025-2026 year was marked by fine advances that will contribute lastingly to the tourism growth of our region. I am proud to continue my mandate as chair and to take part in the development and influence of the Outaouais alongside the TO team, the board members and the partners of an industry as dynamic as it is engaged," said Bâcle-Mainguy.