“We are helped by climate change,” observes with restrained satisfaction Danielle Milon, president of Provence tourism. Helped in the holy grail of “four-season tourism” that all players in the sector are aiming for. “This year is a turning point,” even affirmed the president, also mayor of Cassis, a chic seaside town located on the other side of the Calanques of Marseille.
Because despite “the air gap in July”, linked, according to the tourism management body, to the headlines on the heatwave and the riots, “if we look from January to October, we have made further progress”, notes Danielle Milon who adds: “soon we will do these assessments in November”, as the Indian summer is now stretching out.
In detail, attendance in the “heart of the summer season”, namely July-August, fell by 4% compared to 2022, a year of all records. But this trend towards mixed Julys is not new. “It’s something that has developed over the years. Often in July and August the forest massifs and coves are closed to the public (to prevent fire risks). While June and September…”.
Restaurateurs at half mast
This year, the pre-season was “fantastic”. And the late season, driven by the Rugby World Cup and the arrival of Pope Francis, is of the same ilk. In this regard, Provence tourism has received feedback on the figures linked to these two events. Thus, the weekend of September 8 to 10, during which two Rugby World Cup matches took place (England-Argentina and South Africa-Scotland), there were 28,000 additional nights in seasonal rentals (excluding hotels) were counted. Overall, tourist numbers during this weekend were 20% higher than on August 13, the peak of the summer season.
Likewise, on September 21, 22 and 23, the days of the joint arrival in Marseille of Pope Francis and the French rugby team to face Namibia at the Vélodrome, tourist nights booked by French people jumped by 41% per year. compared to the same date of the previous year.
But in this table with all green lights, there remains a downside. “The decline in purchasing power and inflation have had very significant repercussions on the restaurant industry.” 46% of them consider the season bad, according to a survey commissioned by Provence tourism, while 85% of all professionals judged attendance to be good. It remains to be seen whether the “four seasons” effect can benefit restaurateurs, particularly for Christmas tourism, now in the sights of the regional promotion agency, around a triptych of identity crèche, figurines, pétanque.
In 2022, 8 million tourists were recorded in the metropolis. Marseille alone captures between 30 and 35% of this windfall.