After two years of absence, the Germans, the Belgians and the Swiss resumed their spring district in the region of Aigues-Mortes and Grau-du-Roi.
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“It feels good to hear foreign to this time of the year!” Aigues-Mortes (Gard), a few kilometers from the Mediterranean, this restaurateur is coming back to speak English with satisfaction. At the foot of the ramparts of the city of Saint-Louis, the forefront gives back smile to tourism professionals. After two white spring because of pandemic, the return of holidaymakers from Northern Europe is shown to Port Camargue, the largest marina in Europe.
“The Germans, the Belgians and the Swiss have found their habits before the pandemic, explains Stéphan Baptiste, a member of the group of hoteliers du Grau-du-Roi, the only Guarde’s town located by the sea. C ‘ is comforting enough for us. They have good purchasing power and live the station outside the summer period. We have an increase of about 50% of the number of foreign customers in a few weeks. “This optimism is also feeding by reservations who announce a beautiful summer. “It’s a clientele that is committed, continues the hotelier. Families reserve long-term stays with non-cancellable and non-refundable formulas.”
“come in a hollow period”
In the Gard department, tourism represents 13% of GDP. If the last two summer seasons “were very good on the coast”, recognizes Stéphanie Aillet, director of the Tourism Office in Grau-du-Roi, the seaside resort has suffered from the health context, amputating the benefits of the Before and after the season, which usually attract a retiree clientele. The decline in foreign clientele was estimated at 40% in 2020 and 2021.
“Here, historically we have a great German clientele,” says Jean-Marc Grou, founding director of the Seaquarium Marin aquarium, opened since 1989. “In the last two years, the Swiss and the Belgians made the Resistance and came again. We got accustomed, out of summer season, to hear that French. It’s true that for several weeks, the Germans but also the Dutch are back. “
In the medieval city near Aigues-Mortes, the small train board for twenty minutes walk the Belgian families and their young children, German retirees, too. Boris and Amber explain “having watched the calendar of French and German holidays to come in a hollow period”. “It’s brand new !, Explain to the tourist office. Foreign tourists come back just.”
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