Innovation Le MT Lab celebrates its 10th anniversary

The MT Lab, the first tourist innovation incubator in North America, recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. Created by UQAM and Tourisme Montréal, this accelerator of tourist innovations stems from a common goal: to foster, through open innovation, solutions to industry challenges. Its general manager, Martin Lessard, answers our questions.

Published yesterday at 14:00. Mia Bellemare, Special Collaboration.

What is the mission of the MT Lab?

It is an incubator-accelerator dedicated to tourism. Our team supports innovative companies seeking to break into this field, while helping industry stakeholders better meet their needs.

In the mid-2010s, startups were on the rise and innovation ecosystems were forming, but tourism lagged behind. The objective was to carve out a space in this world.

How does your team intervene concretely?

We mainly step in when a company is looking to enter the market and expand. Often, they already have a good idea, sometimes even a solution, but don’t know how to connect with the right industry players.

Targeted meetings and networking activities are then set up, such as “reverse pitches,” where tourism players share their issues, needs, and blind spots. Between 50 and 80 companies now revolve around the MT Lab each year.

What kind of companies come to see you?

These are often companies that already have a solution but have not yet realized how it can be applied to the tourism sector.

We have seen this with connectivity issues raised by both the City of Montréal in underground routes and by the SEPAQ in outdoor areas where the network fails to reach. Taken separately, these needs may seem different. By bringing them together, we understand they point to the same issue: access to information in the tourist journey.

In your view, how has the tourism industry evolved over the past decade?

Tourism is an umbrella term: it encompasses hospitality, restaurants, transportation, and museums. Together, these sub-sectors carry weight in the Quebec economy and form one of its major export industries, generating billions of dollars annually.

What pleases me is that we are increasingly grasping the nuances. There is more talk of sustainable mobility, regenerative innovation, and artificial intelligence applied to operations. This signals a sector that is maturing.

Do you offer financing?

Yes. We manage diversified funds that allow us to support a variety of projects, striking a balance between public and private funding. A young company can also participate in our activities and start building relationships with the ecosystem at no cost.

What are your challenges for the coming years?

Our first challenge: specialization. The question is no longer just about growth, but about delving deeper. There are bridges to build between tourism, health, mining, mobility, and several other sectors.

Our second major challenge: visibility. Ten years ago, many examples of tourist innovation came from France. Now, Quebec is being cited. We feel we have found our place in the French-speaking world. The next step may be to explore the English-speaking side further.