Climate change, a threat to tourism
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Deadly thunderstorms; gorges and drained canals; devastating fires; conflicts of use on water: the summer of 2022 reminded French tourism, if need be, that it was not immune to climate change. The impact of extreme phenomena was felt on a multitude of destinations and activities.
The Landes fires destroyed five campsites, cut off access to the ocean and Hostens lakes, as well as the iconic Pilat dune. The prolonged heat wave weighed on revenue from restaurants, sports activities and wine tourism. The drying up of part of the Gorges du Verdon has upset the managers of nautical bases. In Corsica, storms in mid-August, the violence of which took forecasters by surprise, caused five deaths, including two in campsites.
On several channels, in the East, deprived of rains, river tourism has been disrupted by the closure of certain links. In the seaside resorts of the South-East, which have been subject to restrictions on the use of water, the greenness of the golf courses, the swimming pools of second homes and the flower beds of town halls reinforce the tensions linked to the tourism industry. In September, the heat of the Mediterranean Sea raises fears of episodes in the Cévennes and floods, to which part of the open-air hotel industry in the South-East is vulnerable.
Around the most affected areas, a halo effect
The economic impact of climatic events remains to be measured with precision, but initial elements show that it will be of modest magnitude, in particular thanks to the difficulty of changing summer plans at the last minute. For the Gorges du Verdon, the whirlwind was as mediatic as it was climatic: the reports in the dry part, at Lake Castillon, then the closing of an access to the Gorges, led potential visitors to believe that there is no had more than one drop on all of the lakes. “We have water! »proclaims on its website Verdon Secret, an activity agency, which recalls that if rafting and canoeing are impossible in places, it also offers canyoning or aquatic hiking.
Michel Buisson, director of the Verdon tourist office, notes that tourist attendance was up to expectations in July, but lacked day visitors from the Var coast: “Around the gorges, there was less traffic and activities are down, although they had products adapted to this volume of water. The impact on whitewater companies was real, especially on French customers. » The difficulties of these tourist sectors have however been able to benefit other areas of the region, and the Verdon does not despair of catching up in September.
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