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Le Massif de Charlevoix president and founder Daniel Gauthier plans to invest $400 million to increase the skiable area by 50%, add lifts to access the Mont à Liguori sector, improve the snowmaking system, and double the number of homes at the foot and summit of the mountain.
The first milestone is always the hardest to achieve, and for us it was Club Med,” Gauthier says.
Club Med has helped increase the number of international visitors, and the occupancy rate is over 80% for the next few months, according to him. “We’re very happy with the results and the outlook for the future,” he says.
For the expansion (pictured above) Gauthier is looking for investors from the recreation and tourism industry.
It’s not just a question of money,” he says, “but being able to combine expertise and think bigger together. The idea of having a strategic partner is to give ourselves the means to achieve our ambitions,” he maintains.
Gauthier would like to create a mountain group, based on models from the American and Canadian West. But with whom? We already have a list,” he says. In Quebec, but also internationally.
Resorts of the Canadien Rockies (RCR), which manages the Mont-Sainte-Anne resort, is not necessarily on the list of potential investors,” says Mr. Gauthier, referring to the purchase offer he made to RCR’s owner last spring. I was interested and I’m still interested, the thing is, Murray Edwards, RCR Owner, is not selling.
The Mont à Liguori sector has been used for alpine touring. Users sign a waiver and pay a daily access fee of $31 + tax. This provides the alpine tourers with a single lift ride via chairlift or gondola for quick access to the backcountry terrain.
Gauthier’s $400 million plan could come to fruition within seven years.
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