Tourists in Quebec suffered a particularly rainy summer last year. In response, Tourisme Québec, in partnership with MétéoMédia - a television weather channel serving Québec and Canada -launched a neat little internet service called ‘Activity Forecaster’ .

It provides an hourly weather update and helps visitors to plan their day accordingly. It is based on the forecasts for the weather within a 150-kilometre radius of the selected city in Quebec and a database of 14,000 suppliers of all kinds of attractions and activities maintained on Quebec’s Ministry of Tourism’s official website, www.bonjourquebec.com.

The service is available as a ‘landing site’ from www.bonjourquebec.com, as well as through a mobile ‘app’ on Apple iTunes.

According to data for 2009 (the latest available from Quebec’s Ministry of Tourism), the French-speaking province welcomed only 2.7 million tourists that year, 9.3% fewer than in 2008. Overseas tourist markets were the most affected: with less than a million recorded arrivals, they were down 14.8%.

However, the Ministry reports a modest recovery in 2010, with an increase in arrivals at both hotels and campsites.