“It’s better than usual, the season started at the end of April, where it started rather at the beginning of June”. On the port of Pointe Rouge in Marseille, Jordy Pons is responsible for the reservation service of Bleu Evasion, one of the boat rental companies approved by the Calanques National Park. “We found the pre-Covid clientele, that of Americans, Belgians, British,” he notes. Without forgetting the business seminars, which according to him, have made a comeback, and the Parisians: “The Covid has put a slap in the face to all these clichés, to this little story that the Marseillais do not like Parisians and vice versa . Parisians are proud to come here now. »
“Our customers are very satisfied with the Marseille destination, they have a good time and talk about it around them”, also notes Mathieu Morin, manager of the company Ze Boat, who works a lot with hotels in Marseille and the hinterland. country. From the Old Port, it takes people to the Calanques, but also Frioul and the Blue Coast. “We are working much better than the previous month of May”, he adds, attributing these good scores above all to the weather, which is much better than last spring. And to the fact that “boating is seen as a real valve of freedom compared to the current situation”.
Sustainable tourism, telecommuting, Marseille right on trend
Simple impressions of service providers? Not only. “The season got off to a very strong start”, also notes Isabelle Brémond, general manager of Provence Tourisme. “The Feria d’Arles, at Easter, marked before for us the beginning of the tourist season, but this year there has been a regular and constant progression, with February holidays which, already, were very dense, she continues. . Many phenomena add up, which means that we have an attendance that is beyond that of 2019, before the Covid ”. She cites in particular the return to sustainable tourism, the search for authenticity and teleworking. “There is a strong demand, for example, for lodgings equipped with wifi,” she notes. During the Easter holidays, French tourist numbers increased by 19% compared to 2019.
With the Camargue and the Alpilles, Marseille is particularly successful. which represents approximately 300,000 to 400,000 people this month,” says Marc Thépot, president of the Marseille metropolitan tourist office, whose count includes the 9,500 hotel rooms but not the 11,500 Airbnb rentals in the city.
“Only downside, the arms to serve customers”
“Intrinsically, Marseille corresponds to the spirit of the times, to new trends in tourism in search of diversity and experiences, with a city that has a thousand and one facets, and 57 km of coastline, he continues. All the work in terms of image on the redesign of the corniche, the pedestrianization of the center, makes people forget the Marseille of news items and strikes”. He also cites telework, which has brought other tourists who work during the day, and have an aperitif in the evening at the Paulette cabanon or on the Estienne d’Orves course, but also the active culinary scene, in the wake by Alexandre Mazzia.
“We won over a rather young clientele,” observes Marc Thépot. For him, however, there remains a “flat” on the board: “You have to find people to serve customers”. “We have reconciled the Marseillais with tourism, now we have to reconcile young people with catering”, he concludes, convinced that a new page is also opening for these professions, with better working conditions at stake. and remuneration.
Source: 20minutes
