A Quebec City hotel says it wants to promote pride in the French language by offering discounts to francophones.

As part of its “Franco-friendly” campaign, the Chateau Laurier hotel, just steps from the Plains of Abraham, said it will offer a 15 per cent discount to Acadians and French-speaking people from outside Quebec.

“We are extremely proud to be not only the first ‘French-friendly’ establishment in the Americas but also to be the establishment that francophones can count on to valorize their cultural heritage,” the hotel’s president, Alain Girard, said in a statement.

The discount is not intended to be discriminatory, said the hotel’s marketing manager Steve De Champlain.

He said it is an incentive similar to discounts offered to seniors and members of the Canadian Automobile Association.

The hotel will play francophone music only and will mark the national holidays of all French-speaking countries, De Champlain said.

"We really want to [go] back to exactly what the tourist is looking for,” said De Champlain. “Either they’re coming from Toronto, from the states or abroad — and … they do now want to live an experience, through to its origins and its people. So, we want to make sure they do that correctly, and they feel like ‘Gee, I learned something.'"

The debate over the use of the French language has recently made headlines in the province with the opposition Parti Québécois calling on the government to extend the application of the province's language laws to junior colleges and daycares.

Currently, access to English primary and high schools is restricted to the children of parents who have done most of their schooling in Canadian English schools.

The hotel said it will also distribute free passes to its clients for the Museum of French America, and the Francophonie Centre of the Americas.