Skift Take
National park and rural authorities in France have absorbed lessons from domestic overtourism during the pandemic.
Dawit Habtemariam
France’s national parks and countryside towns are implementing systems and techniques to manage the circulation of traffic in the middle of the summer season travel boom.
During the pandemic, locals flocked to France’s parks and countryside, a megatrend Skift highlighted last year. Towns and villages like Etretat saw greater foot traffic than usual from Paris.
“Throughout the previous 2 years, there were tens of countless people coming, particularly from the metro Paris region, to this little village which is hidden between two cliffs,” stated Normandy Tourism Marketing Supervisor for English-Speaking Markets Ben Collier.
With the rise came overcrowding, traffic congestion and overstuffed trash bins, affecting the quality of life of homeowners. “What the residents complained about were individuals who came from Paris for the day who didn’t look after the regional neighborhood,” Collier said.
Last summer, overcrowding harmed a few of the Calanques National forest’s flora and fauna, according to Marseille Tourist. Some areas are also experiencing soil erosion.
This year, local authorities have actually reacted by implementing systems and methods to limit foot traffic. The Assembly of Corsica embraced everyday quotas to safeguard the environments of its popular destination websites. Starting this month, Lavezzi Islands, Restonica Valley and Bavella Needles will have quotas. Visitors will have to make a reservation beforehand, and locals will be offered concern.
This summer season, Calanques has restricted the number of visitors to its Sugiton, one of the busiest areas of the park, to 500 visitors per day rather of the common 3,000. In addition, the tourist workplace will redeploy experienced seasonal employees in the park to reroute visitors to less-frequented locations like it did last summer.
But quotas don’t make sense for natural websites. Some can manage countless travelers daily, according to Julien Buot, director of Acting for Responsible Tourism (ATR), an association of sustainably minded tour operators. What’s required is much better planning, particularly for peak times. “The volume is not the only issue,” stated Buot. “We as professionals in the private and public sector have to prepare for.”
The tourist board of Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur area, one of France’s most popular traveler location, partnered with the Waze navigation app to handle traffic flow during peak times at popular sites.
While overcrowding isn’t an issue this year, Normandy Tourism has gained from its pandemic experience. The organization is working with tour operators to assist travelers from Paris to prevent coming throughout peak seasons or take a trip to other areas to ease the pressure on sites like Etretat.
“What we’re attempting to do, especially for the nationwide markets like Paris and the French individuals, is to get people to come year around instead of the summer months or peak durations,” stated Collier. Normandy Tourism also intends to encourage tourists to not invest all day at Etretat and to go to check out other cities and locations in the region.