4,700 and not one more. This summer, there will be room for everyone in Bréhat. Taken by storm during the high season, the small Breton island has decided to signal the end of recess and put an end to mass tourism. From July 14 to August 25, access to this little corner of paradise will be limited during the week to a maximum of 4,700 visitors per day. A shock decision taken by the mayor to preserve the beauty of his island and the tranquility of the locals but also to “improve the experience” of tourists, often burned by their visit to the crowded island in the heart of summer. “We reached peaks of 6,000 people in one day in 2021 and 2022, justifies Olivier Carré. We could not continue on this path because it was becoming detrimental for everyone. We therefore opted for a strategy of no more, but better. »
Before Bréhat, several very touristic places such as the Calanques park in Marseille or the island of Porquerolles have already established a visitor gauge to try to better regulate the flow. A principle of visitor quotas welcomed by the vast majority of Internet users questioned by 20 minutes. “These quotas are very good news, it makes us aware of the effects of mass tourism,” says Mathilde. “It was high time that we do in France what exists in many tourist countries”, abounds Daniel, citing in particular the example of Machu Picchu or certain beaches in Thailand. So many natural sites that have long suffered from overcrowding. “We are constantly being told about preserving biodiversity, but we are letting millions of tourists trample natural sites and destroy biodiversity everywhere without regulating anything”, underlines Sylvain. “Let’s protect the magnificent places when we still can,” writes Daniel. Let’s not forget that we must leave to our descendants a territory as our ancestors passed it on to us. »
The idea of a “tourism capacity permit”
While the Government unveiled a plan on Monday to better manage tourist flows, many Internet users are taking the opportunity to attack the behavior of certain tourists. “Nature must be preserved and walkers more respectful,” says Geneviève. When they know how to stay on the marked paths and stop throwing their rubbish anywhere, future generations will then be made aware. Some like Eugene even evoke the idea of a “tourism capacity permit” with “a code of good conduct to be respected. » « A code of ethics should be decreed and enforced for visitors who too often have no respect for the place where the inhabitants live all year round. »
Tourists themselves, internet users of 20 minutes also believe that the introduction of these quotas will make it possible to better benefit from the places in question. “It’s really not pleasant to make this type of visit believing that you are in the metro at rush hour,” says Phylany. If the measure is still rare, many ultra-tourist places could in the future be tempted by this system of gauges. Patrice thus suggests doing the same on the cliffs of Etretat “where it’s hellish on weekends. Ditto in Gruissan, seaside resort located in Aude where Pierre lives. “There are too many people and too much noise, it becomes unlivable, he denounces. You can’t even hear the sea anymore and you breathe in the jet-ski fumes. “.
An obstacle to “freedom of movement”
Some older Internet users like Kemet regret for their “the freedom of yesteryear. But they also understand that times have changed. “You have to know how to adapt to the realities of today’s world if we want to protect the sites to leave them to future generations,” writes this retiree. The gauges are therefore unfortunately essential. »
Very few Internet users however denounce this measure like Didier. “There is nothing more frustrating when you have traveled 1,000 or 1,500 kilometers to get to a site to be refused access because a quota has been reached”, he writes, suggesting instead “to increase the entrance ticket prices. A perverse effect denounced by this anonymous reader. “There will be sorting by money which will still be done on the backs of the less well-off,” he wrote. Finally, another Internet user believes that the introduction of quotas “goes against one of our fundamental freedoms: freedom of movement. »