Fishing holidays and vacation stays: Reservations can be made as of this coming Friday

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 15:54:00 EST

Press Release
Sépaq - 1973

Fishing holidays and vacation stays in wildlife reserves and national parks: Reservations can be made as of this coming Friday

Quebec City, November 21, 2011 - The Société des établissements de plein air du Québec would like to remind all Quebecers that reservations for fishing holidays and vacation stays, including cabin accommodations, for the 2012 season can be made as of this Friday, November 25 across our network of wildlife reserves and national parks.

Up to and including last year, reservations were made on the basis of a lucky draw that established an order of priority. This will no longer be the case. From now on, fishers and vacationers will have to reserve directly on the Sépaq website (www.sepaq.com) or by calling our toll-free number: 1 800 665-6527.

Interested parties simply have to consult the reservation start-up calendar to find out when they can begin reserving a fishing holiday or vacation stay at the facility of their choice. Please note that telephone reservations can be made from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. from November 25 to December 4, 2011, and that the transactional site (www.sepaq.com) will be operational on an ongoing basis. After December 4, the regular schedule for telephone reservations, i.e. from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. during the week, and from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekends, will once again apply.

Reservation calendar

FRIDAY November 25, 2011	SUNDAY November 27, 2011	WEDNESDAY November 30, 2011	FRIDAY December 2, 2011	SATURDAY December 3, 2011	SUNDAY December 4, 2011
Wildlife reserves Laurentides Portneuf National parks Grands-Jardins Jacques-Cartier	Wildlife reserves Mastigouche Rouge-Matawin Saint-Maurice	National parks Frontenac Lac-Témiscouata Miguasha Mont-Orford Plaisance Pointe-Taillon	Wildlife reserves La Vérendrye Papineau-Labelle National park Mont-Tremblant	Wildlife reserves Ashuapmushuan Assinica Lacs-Albanel-Mistassini-et-Waconichi Port-Cartier-Sept-Îles National park Monts-Valin	Wildlife reserves Chic-Chocs Matane Port-Daniel Rimouski National parks Aiguebelle Fjord-du-Saguenay Gaspésie

As well as simplifying reservation procedures, the new way to reserve a cabin offers a great deal more flexibility when it comes to beginning and ending a stay. For fishing holidays, the new procedures include a discount for stays of three days or longer, a rate freeze, a new family package, and cheaper rates for large groups of fishers (certain conditions apply). For more details, please visit our website at www.sepaq.com. An online demonstration video is at the disposal of new users of our transactional site. And from now until the reservation start-up date, they can also carry out simulated transactions to get used to the new ways of proceeding. What’s more, we’ve provided a set of online FAQs designed to answer the main questions that may be raised.

Parc national de Frontenac inaugurates its brand-new discovery and visitors centre

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:32:00 EDT

Press Release
Sépaq - 1968

Parc national de Frontenac inaugurates its brand-new discovery and visitors centre

Sainte-Praxète - In the company of Laurent Lessard, MNA for Frontenac and Quebec’s Minister of Municipal Affairs, Regions and Land Occupancy, the President and CEO of the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (Sépaq), Raymond Desjardins, and the Vice-President of Operations for Parcs Québec, Martin Soucy, inaugurated today the discovery and visitors centre at Parc national de Frontenac. This marked the conclusion of a series of essential construction projects at the park, all part and parcel of the second phase of development of our national parks. Mr. Desjardins and Mr. Soucy also took advantage of the occasion to launch the brand-new Park Path Explorer approach, underlining the beginning of an entirely different way of visiting and discovering the protected territories of the Parcs Québec network. This launching at Parc national de Frontenac is the third such event across the network, after those at Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier and Parc national du Mont-Saint-Bruno. A number of other parks will follow in their footsteps over the next 15 months.

Discovery and visitors centres - at the heart of our national parks

The discovery and visitors centres found in most parks of the Parcs Québec network are products of various initiatives designed to develop and showcase our national parks. Presenting the special features and main attractions of their home territories, the centres also offer a vast array of customer services. “Seven new discovery and visitors centres will be built in the near future. However, this construction work was preceded by a period of in-depth reflection concerning Sépaq’s operations, especially in the areas of education and sustainable development,” Raymond Desjardins explains.

Building according to the principles of sustainable development

The first priority when planning, designing and building a discovery and visitors centre is to take into account the spirit of the place itself, both as regards the choice of location and the architectural approach and construction materials selected. The discovery and visitors centre at Parc national de Frontenac respects this philosophy in all its aspects. The new centre is perfectly incorporated into the landscape, and its construction was guided by environmental concerns, as reflected in the following measures:

reduction of water consumption through the use of low-flow equipment;
reduction of energy consumption through the construction of a high-performance building shell;
recovery of stones available on site for purposes of landscaping (tree wells, drainage ditches, etc.);
restoration of surfaces disturbed by the construction process through a choice of various indigenous plants representative of the park environment;
many more.

“In keeping with its mission, Sépaq is firmly committed to following the path of sustainable development. The construction of the discovery and visitors centre at Parc national de Frontenac speaks volumes in this regard,” asserts Raymond Desjardins, at the same time congratulating the Sépaq teams that participated in developing the project.

Rethinking how we do things: Park Path Explorer

Sépaq also assembled a multi-disciplinary team of professionals to rethink its educational package, especially so as to make education a more integral part of all facets of a visit to our national parks. For the last 12 years, Parcs Québec has been presenting high quality indoor thematic exhibits. However, “with time, we have realized that the traditional exhibit no long meets the needs of a new park clientele, which prefers direct contact with the territory itself,” points out Martin Soucy. "During the reflection process, a new approach quickly emerged: Park Path Explorer, which enhances the experience of discovering our parks and maintains the visibility of our network,” affirms Raymond Desjardins, proudly speaking of this innovative approach, the product of extensive teamwork at Sépaq.

Park Path Explorer

Park Path Explorer was developed by taking into account the need to highlight certain key attributes, natural or historical, of our national parks. First of all, we will connect with visitors where they naturally end up on arrival, in the common living area of the discovery and visitors centre, the launching pad for their discovery. The Park Path Explorer, which is also available on the Parcs Québec website, will initially lead people to discover what there is To See and To Do in the national park that they are visiting. This tool will also enable people to customize their visit by choosing among proposed walking, cycling or navigable paths, and “will serve to support the excellent work done by our reception team in the national parks,” Martin Soucy adds, by way of conclusion.

Nouvelles de Frontenac

Fishing holidays and vacation stays: Reservations can be made as of this coming Friday

Reservation calendar

FRIDAYNovember 25, 2011

SUNDAYNovember 27, 2011

WEDNESDAYNovember 30, 2011

FRIDAYDecember 2, 2011

SATURDAYDecember 3, 2011

SUNDAYDecember 4, 2011

Parc national de Frontenac inaugurates its brand-new discovery and visitors centre

Discovery and visitors centres - at the heart of our national parks

Building according to the principles of sustainable development

Rethinking how we do things: Park Path Explorer

FRIDAY
November 25, 2011

SUNDAY
November 27, 2011

WEDNESDAY
November 30, 2011

FRIDAY
December 2, 2011

SATURDAY
December 3, 2011

SUNDAY
December 4, 2011