• This summer in Marseille, nearly one in two tourists was of foreign origin.

  • A return that is welcomed with open arms by professionals in the sector, aware of the financial windfall that such a clientele represents.

  • For its first summer of opening, the Cosquer cave recorded 300,000 entries.

    This constitutes the most visited paid monument of the summer season in Marseille.

They had disappeared from circulation.

But this summer, Marseille tourism professionals had to review their basics in English, after two years of scarcity.

The tourist season in the second largest city in France was marked by a very clear return of foreign customers to the Old Port.

Thus, according to figures communicated this Thursday by the Marseille tourist office, nearly 49% of tourists who visited the second city of France are of foreign origin.

These tourists are mainly Spanish, Italian, German or from the United Kingdom.

Attendance which is logically reflected in the statistics of the city's airport.

Air traffic is indeed returning to its pre-coronavirus crisis level, with a strong emphasis on international connections, which represent 71% of summer traffic, 3/4 of which are from and to Europe.

"We are delighted with the return of our traditional customers, such as the Belgians, Germans, English and Italians," enthuses Julien Boulay, Marketing Director of Marseille Provence Airport.

There are also strong peaks of increase in visits for certain destinations: + 42% for Austria or + 44% for Switzerland.

»

Americans with high purchasing power

For its first summer of opening, the Cosquer cave observes this same trend.

Of the 300,000 entries recorded this summer for what is the most visited paid monument of the summer season in Marseille, 15% of visitors to the reconstruction of this prehistoric cave come from abroad.

“We have attracted visitors who are already sensitive to these questions, because there are already sites of this type in their country, explains Frédéric Pradès.

These foreigners are mainly Spanish, German and from the United Kingdom.

We have a lot of self-guided cruise passengers: 700 groups have already booked a slot from September until the end of the year.

We also have a lot of Americans, which is a surprise for us.

It is surely following the nomination of Marseille by the

Times

recently as one of the 50 destinations to visit.

»


A news that is not to displease for the traders of the Marseille city.

"Americans and Canadians have returned, with a purchasing power that necessarily interests us," rejoices Guillaume Sicard, downtown merchant and president of the Marseille-Centre merchants' federation.

As a reminder, tourism generates one billion euros in economic benefits for the city, or 7% of the local economy and 15,000 direct jobs.

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