Cooperative tourism in Quebec: a new form of tourism, a vector of development for peripheral territories?[El turismo cooperativo en Quebec : ¿una nueva forma de turismo, vector de desarrollo para los territorios periféricos ?]

Over 200 tourism cooperatives operate in the leisure industry across the Quebec territory. Their success is part of a long tradition of Quebec socio-economics which has developed throughout the 20th century. Since the end of the 90s, co-operative tourism has engaged in a process of expansion and strong renewal. The number of tourism cooperatives has more than doubled in twenty years and more than half of them have chosen the status of multi-stakeholder solidarity cooperative, introduced by the 1997 Cooperatives Law. Territorially based, the tourism cooperatives are focussed on the creation of local employment, pooling of production resources and funding for tourism development in the region. They are small businesses in terms of turnover and assets. They are mainly located in peripheral territories which have difficult socio-economic conditions but which have strong pre-existing co-operative tourism dynamics. They fit into the principles of social economy, in terms of social purpose, democratic governance, autonomy and the hybridization of resources. However, this multitude of tourism cooperatives has failed to create a broader mobilisation movement impacting on regional territorial dynamics and promoting a common orientation.