Sustainable, inclusive and resilient. These will be the actions implemented as part of the new tourism strategy of the Pyrénées-Orientales departmental council for the period 2024-2030. “Tourism is the department's primary economic activity, which represents 1.3 billion euros per year. It is essential to be proactive and to help with resilience, all in a complex ecological context,” summarizes Aude Vivès, vice-president of the departmental council, delegate for Tourism, Attractiveness, Leisure and Thermalism, and president of the Tourist Development Agency.
A unique annual diary
First objective of this strategy: to give visibility to the department. “It is essential that our territory is well identified at the national and even more international level. With the name Pyrénées-Orientales, I am not sure that this is the case today,” underlines Aude Vivès. Hence the decision to now highlight the destination “Pyrenees-Mediterranean”, to which is added the signature “Catalan country – Fenouillèdes”, this time for the attention of local customers with the reference to the roots Catalan and Occitan in the department.
The goal for Aude Vivès is also to deploy tourist activity throughout the year because seasonality is still very strong:
“60% of our attendance is summer. Either way, summer is going to get hotter and hotter. We need to know how we attract tourists out of season by having events and demonstrations. » Among the first measures which will be put in place by the beginning of 2025, the creation of an information tool which will cover the entire department. Activities, events, dates to remember, everything must be grouped together in this single annual diary.
But how can we preserve the emblematic sites – the Bouillouses or Raho lakes, the Canigou, the Canet-en-Roussillon Aquarium (the most popular place), the waterfalls or natural hot baths?
– while welcoming everyone? “Our goal is to personalize the famous customer experience as much as possible by telling them everything that can be done in the department while managing the flow of visitors. This means being able to recommend this site rather than another, this or that activity based on attendance levels. » Spreading out the arrival of visitors over time and across the entire territory is the whole challenge of responsible tourism.