ABSTRACT
The City of Montreal and the governments of Canada and Quebec have invested by conservative estimate nearly $7 billion Canadian since 1960s to build an extensive tourism infrastructure in Montreal. The city's 'tourism product' has emerged in two distinct phases. The first phase, roughly from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s, was the 'era of mega-events' for Montreal. The fiscal disaster of mega-events tourism was exacerbated in Montreal by curious way in which the Drapeau government paid for the city's share of Expo 67 and the Olympics. Montreal's investment in professional sports has been aimed, in part, at attracting tourists. Investment in tourism infrastructure has had far-reaching consequences for Montreal. There is little evidence that the investments have produced a fiscal dividend in the city. Montreal has thus far avoided the 'tourist bubble' of U.S. cities, and few would argue that tourism has created a 'Potemkin village' facade in a city that, for all its economic difficulties, remains remarkably livable.
