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The Guidebook – A Bible for Tourists

Cover of a tour guide La Gaspésie is drawn in black and white on a pastel green background representing the St. Lawrence River. All villages along the route of Route 6 have been identified. In the top, La Gaspésie is written in big letters. Below, a photograph of Percé Rock is presented in a triangular shape. At the bottom of the page is written This booklet is published by l’Association des Hôteliers de la Gaspésie.

Guidebook

La Gaspésie, about 1940

Association of Hotel Keepers of the Gaspésie

Les Amis des Jardins de Métis Collection

Government has played a major role in promoting tourism in Quebec. With a large number of small operators, government became the key actor in choosing images and selecting places to promote. It took decades before associations of hoteliers took form and the first “syndicat de tourisme” began to pool funds and resources. These early forms of collaboration gradually emerged into the tourism associations which are today the key organization in promoting each of Quebec’s tourism regions.

The first and most popular tool used to promote the region was the guidebook. They became the main output of the collaboration between tourism operators and a bible for visitors.

Almost a century after the first guidebooks began to be mass produced, their layout has barely changed – offering readers a sequence of brief texts describing each village and its attractions, a generous dose of photographs and advertisements purchased by hoteliers and attractions to promote their businesses and special offerings.