A rainy summer in Quebec last year inspired the launch of a new app from Tourisme Quebec that gives hourly weather updates and makes appropriate activity suggestions.

‘A lot of people will change their plans because of the weather,’ Julien Cormier, promotion manager, Ministry of Tourism of Quebec, tells MiC. ‘We have a huge database of 14,000 suppliers of all kinds, such as cruises, festivals, events. We thought that it may be a good mix to propose some activities with the weather,’ he adds about the idea.

The Activity Forecaster is a landing page accessible via the Bonjour Quebec microsite that gives the Weather Network’s sunshine prediction of the day. It is also downloadable as a mobile app through iTunes – the French-language version, launched last week, received 600 downloads in just two days, says Cormier. The partnership, arranged by Cossette, marks the first time that the Weather Network has offered hourly updates to a third party, Cormier says.

The Weather Network ran promotional spots about the app last week, and Tourisme Quebec is promoting the page virally via Facebook, explains Cormier. It will also be included in upcoming fall and winter campaigns (which are often integrated, spanning digital, print and SEM), but with a retooling of the Activity Forecaster to reflect those seasons in activity suggestions.

‘The app will be on the iPhone indefinitely, I hope,’ Cormier says. ‘So we’ll try to improve the app as best we can, but for now our plan is to be an all-year-round project.’