Les guides touristiques d’hôtels montréalais, 1857-1917 – Une stratégie publicitaire

Type of resource
Author/collaborator
Title
Les guides touristiques d’hôtels montréalais, 1857-1917 – Une stratégie publicitaire
Abstract
The author points out that in the latter half of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries, the major Montreal hotels were engaged in fierce competition. She explains that to stand out from the rest or simply to survive, and in an effort to meet the inclinations of the day, these hotels had to constantly improve their facilities: expanding premises, revamping decor, adding hot water, electricity, telephones, elevators, and more. The new luxury standards demanded huge expenditures. To be able to afford them, the owners of the major hotels had to make sure there were no vacancies. Perhaps, the author speculates, that is why they launched into publishing tourist guides featuring their establishments to the exclusion of the other hotels in Quebec's largest city. The author takes a look at twenty-five such guides—held by Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and published between 1857 and 1917 by ten major Montreal hotels: Donegana, St. Lawrence Hall, Montreal House, Ottawa, St. James, Albion, Queen’s, Windsor, Balmoral and Grand Union—exploring their origins, stated objectives, borrowings, and advertising strategies. The author concludes that despite the pretence of offering tourists correct information, the producers of these guides eventually eliminated true tourism content and transformed them into pure advertising vehicles.
Publication
Revue de Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec
Volume
No. 5
Date
2013
Language
fr
URL
Citation
Lefebvre, Michèle. “Les guides touristiques d’hôtels montréalais, 1857-1917 – Une stratégie publicitaire.” Revue de Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, 2013. https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/rbanq/2013-n5-rbanq0763/1017694ar/.
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