“Overtourism”, “hypertourism”, “overtourism” or “tourismophobia”, etc Call it what you want, but the goal is to define the 80% of tourists who come to France each year to visit only 20% of the territory, from Alsace to the Gironde via the Ardèche. A plan to regulate the flows that overwhelm tourist sites was unveiled this week, when they “sometimes constitute a threat” to “the environment, the quality of life and the tourist experience of customers”. Not to mention an effect of “rejection” of tourists by local populations.
These phenomena of saturation linked to overcrowding should therefore reshape the tourism of tomorrow. On the menu: paid parking, entrance fees, daily quotas, advance booking, etc. The island of Bréhat in mid-June, or the Pont du Gard and the Ardèche gorges before it, have thus already opted for “reasoned tourism” or for “unseasonality”. Overview of the sites which, in the face of the major landings, have taken or will take the lead.
The island of Noirmoutier demands a toll
A little less popular but larger than its neighbor the island of Yeu, the island of Noirmoutier (Vendée) is beset by tourists every summer: up to 100,000 a day! Traffic jams are frequent on the bridge that connects it to the mainland. You also have to be patient to take the submersible passage of Gois or access the famous Plage des Dames, in the north of the island. Residents (less than 10,000 in winter) suffer. They are also worried about the degradation of natural spaces, the management of drinking water and security issues. So much so that the idea of establishing a toll on the bridge for visitors, on the model of the island of Ré (Charente-Maritime), resurfaces. Three of the four municipalities of Noirmoutier have voted for these last weeks. The ball is now in the court of the departmental council of Vendée, owner of the work. A similar debate exists on the island of Oléron (Charente-Maritime), also served by a free bridge.
The beach of the Virgin Island prohibited to the public
It is a superb cove of white sand, bathed in turquoise water. In Crozon, the beach of Île Vierge has become a celebrity in spite of itself. Several times noticed by international magazines, the site of the southern tip of Brittany has suffered for several years from tourist overcrowding. Not helped by the images of paradise beaches published on social networks, the municipality had to ban access to the site in 2020. In the wake of the deconfinements, the cove had been stormed, raising fears for the safety of walkers as much than for the natural environment of the very wild peninsula. Materialized by signs and ropes, the prohibition of access to the beach is valid for pedestrians as well as for kayakers and boaters. Not always respected, the decision of the mayor of Crozon regularly requires the intervention of the gendarmes, who do not hesitate to align the PV at 135 euros to try to make themselves understood.
“Empowering visitors” to the Dune du Pilat
Depending on erosion and wind, its height has varied between 102 and 110 meters in recent years, making it the highest dune in Europe. The first site in New Aquitaine, the Dune du Pilat in the Arcachon basin welcomes two million people each year, with peaks that can reach 17,000 people per day in summer. Attendance that could ultimately threaten its ecosystem. In recent years, actions have been taken to eliminate illegal parking around the dune which is degrading the environment, and variable message signs are positioned upstream of the parking lot to warn visitors of the crowds on the site. . A “requalification process” has also been undertaken by the Syndicat mixte de la Grande Dune du Pilat since 2008 to “pilot the sustainable management of the site by combining the reception of a large public and the preservation of this particularly fragile natural jewel. This will result in the inauguration on June 30 of a new reception area “completely redesigned to raise awareness and empower visitors” and a village-huts “completely rehabilitated with vegetated plots”. Next step: the application for the Grand Site de France label.
Languedoc regulates everywhere, all the time
Regulating the influx of overtourism… In Languedoc, the subject became essential a few years ago to preserve three exceptional places. The most visited ancient monument in France, the Pont du Gard was closed to car traffic in 2000. To access the Roman aqueduct, you have to park your car in one of the two car parks on the site (for 9 euros), which today limits the number of simultaneous visitors to 1,400 vehicles, or around 5,500 people.
In the Hérault hinterland, the village of Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert has also suffocated under the weight of tourism. Between 400 and 600,000 people each year discover this medieval pearl located on the road to Compostela. To the point, in summer, of sometimes barely being able to walk there in the crowded alleys. For several years, access has no longer been authorized for cars, which must park in a paid car park (in summer and certain weekends the rest of the year) with 600 spaces… half of which is reserved for residents. Weakened by tourism, the waterfall (also called the umbrellas of Saint-Guilhem), located on the Hérault, between the village and the cave of Clamouse, is being restored and its access is now prohibited by prefectural decree.
A few kilometers from Montpellier, it can only be reached on foot, by bike… or by taking the little train from the Maguelone peninsula. The train is free, however the car parks (located 800m from the Romanesque cathedral, on the Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone side) are chargeable in the summer. Almost all motor vehicles have been banned there for several years, in order to ensure the preservation, development and enhancement of the heritage. This does not prevent 220,000 people from visiting it each year.
On the island of Bréhat, “not more but better”
Overcrowded in the summer, the island of Bréhat has just decided to introduce a quota of visitors this summer to regulate the flow of tourists. From July 14 to August 25, access to the Breton island will be limited to a maximum of 4,700 visitors per day. To find out more, it’s below, with our special correspondent on the island, Jérôme Gicquel.
In Ardèche, a smart canoe bison
With two million tourists a year, the Gorges de l’Ardèche are one of the most touristic places in France with a flagship activity: canoeing. During the summer peaks, more than 3,000 boats can be rented by the day. To avoid traffic jams on the Ardèche motorway, the “clever canoe”, a kind of clever Bison, was set up this year. “The objective is to be able to manage peaks in attendance,” says Vincent Orcel, general manager of the Gorges de l’Ardèche – Pont d’Arc tourist office. Thanks to webcams, we have real-time data but also a predictive system using data from previous years which allow us to know, through a color code, the different sections of the river which could be very busy and at which times. »
The tourist office’s strategy is to upgrade the historic 24 km “great descent”, which represents only 15% of attendance. It also offers leisure “off the beaten track” and on periods other than summer to “irrigate and diffuse” the flow of tourists throughout the territory. Thus, the sector relies on “informing, raising awareness and empowering” to anticipate possible gauges. Currently, only the two bivouac sites are regulated with attendance quotas. In these places, it has also been forbidden to drink alcohol between May and September for ten years, to avoid “possible accidents due to drunkenness”, indicates the prefecture.
Do not go “in the Vosges as in Europa-Park”
A very touristic region with more than 22 million visitors in 2022, Alsace is not spared by the phenomenon either. Certainly in lesser proportions because the famous wine route extends over 170 km with many sought-after typical villages. Several have already been rewarded for their heritage and have seen, logically, their attendance increase. Even if it means losing a little of their authenticity as souvenir shops open. It often takes play elbows in summer and during Christmas time in Riquewihr, for example… The Vosges massif is also attracting more and more people. Not always with great consideration for its biodiversity, deplores Alsace Nature for a few years. “We must direct this tourism towards protection and not consumption,” summarizes its director Stéphane Giraud. We are not going to the Vosges like to Europa-Park! »
The Canigou, as a precursor
Although it is the sacred mountain of the Catalans, the Canigou, which culminates at 2,785m in the Pyrenees, has not always had the respect due to its rank. For a long time, it was even one of the symbols of the whole car and almost come to park at its top. Since 2008, the mixed syndicate Canigó Grand Site, in charge of its management, has started a serious reversal. Gradually, the various accesses have been closed for individual motorized vehicles. Access to the Cortalets refuge was initially forbidden to them. And over the years, many tracks and forest paths have undergone the same evolution. Which “thus allows a significant improvement in the landscape integrity of the classified site”, evoked, in 2018, the mixed syndicate. It was this same year that the Esquena d’Ase car park, located at 1386 m, became the last place authorized for cars. It takes about five hours of walking to reach the Canigou.
It should also be remembered that at the gates of Marseille, a summer reservation has been set up for five years at the Calanque de Sugiton and that the national park is considering limiting attendance on the Frioul islands. It remains to point out that a working group with influencers will be created so that the pros of photography on Instagram no longer encourage the massive frequentation of tourist sites but and make their audience aware of the impact of it. In their sights? The overpopular Mont-Saint-Michel and Etretat.