“With the heat, tourists are revising their plans a bit, taking less walks, taking public transport more,” note Marine, receptionist at the Nice Métropole tourist office. “We suggest that people go to Cimiez early in the morning and to museums, shopping centers or churches in the followingnoon. We send them to the hill of the castle by the little train. There is a waterfall, it’s refreshing”.
Water sports are on the rise.
“Boat excursions to Monaco or the Lérins Islands, we are asked for them every day. The towed buoy works well too” notes Catherine, his colleague. “Some people tell us ‘we would have liked to visit a village’, but they fall back on the beach or the swimming pool”.
“It’s true that we were a little afraid of high temperatures”recognizes this couple from the island of Guernsey, parents of a 5-year-old child, who came to collect some leaflets. “We thought it would be 35, or even 40 degrees. Here we are at 33 so it’s fine. In addition there is air. When we walk in old Nice it’s shaded, we bathe”summarizes Magali. “We are here until Wednesday, time is running out so we want to take advantage of it”, adds Ghislain.
“When we come to the Côte d’Azur, we know it’s going to be hot and that’s why we come”summarizes Lauriano Azinheirinha, general manager of the Nice Côte d’Azur metropolitan tourist and congress office. “The beaches are full but at lunchtime, at the restaurant, there are fewer people, on the Promenade it is calm. We are however at 96% occupancy rate. We do not have this phenomenon of overtourism because the offer is dense. Tourists are spread over the whole territory”.
“In Menton, we know that the tourists are there, we see them in the evenings, but there is a gap between noon and 4 p.m.”, observes Marion Carbonnelle, head of the Carf tourism observatory. “They’re probably at the pool or napping, in the air-conditioned accommodations.”
Success of cinemas and museums
In the three Pathé cinemas in Nice, attendance is exceptional, enthuses Savanna Somokine, the director. For him, it is certain, “people come for the film, not for the air conditioning. The sessions for Barbie, released this Wednesday, sold out. Same for Oppenheimer. At the Pathé Gare du Sud, many films are in their original version, which also attracts foreign tourists”.
Attendance at the department’s museums is also excellent.
The Maeght Foundation, in Saint-Paul de Vence, counts 600 visitors a day, up to 1,000 on weekends. “The gardens and the fountain, around which you can have lunch, are very popular” notes Frédéric Hubin, director of communication, sponsorship and development of the foundation. But heat wave or not, the place is famous and therefore attractive.
The three national museums, Chagall in Nice, Picasso in Vallauris and Fernand Léger in Menton are also full. “In summer we always have people. It’s difficult to know if this year it’s linked to the heat wave or not”, says Sandrine Cormault.
The freshness of the hinterland seduces
He meets “ we do not see a particularly large influx of tourists”, notes Marion Carbonnelle, for Carf.
In Auron, summer visitors are very present, “ but it is still hot, underlines Pascal Lequenne, the director of the tourist office. At night it drops a little, we sleep better. The most requested activities are the swimming pool and the bodies of water. It is weaker on the hike except the GR 5 and the circuits of several days because people came for that“.
In Valberg, “more and more people are extending their stay, assures Alexis Barrois, director of the Valberg Tourist Office. Coming for two, three or four days, they sometimes ask to stay a whole month. In July, the occupancy rate of hotels and tourist accommodation is 70%. And it continues to fill up. Golf, pony rides and tree climbing are in the middle of the Larch forest. It is 25 degrees during the day, 15 at night. In the evening, on the terrace , people wear a jacket and we sleep with the duvet”.
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