The weather is nice, the terraces are filling up, the spirit is in the mood for the preparation of the summer holidays... If it is not really in season, it is however now that the and future editions of the Christmas market are decided. of Strasbourg, or at least its possible lines of development.
A reorientation promised from the installation of the new ecological municipality which wishes to revitalize and optimize this important event for the city.
Gathered at a press conference on Tuesday, Mayor Jeanne Barseghian and the elected official in charge of the event Guillaume Libsig revealed the analysis made of the 2,300 responses, opinions and suggestions collected during the implementation of a public consultation on the event in January.
The result is a plebiscite for Strasbourg Capital of Christmas.
Nearly 80% of them appreciated the event, especially the markets, the Christmas tree and the decorations.
But also, for 85% of those questioned, the spacing and layout of the chalets, their positioning in certain districts and even more, at 92%, the possibility of making a donation by returning their cup.
A plebiscite which does not, however, hide "reasons for lack of interest" identified as the loss of the Christmas spirit, the quality of the products sold (for 11% of people), the inaccessibility of the city center (8%) or even again the lack of public toilets (53%).
A citizen jury
So much data that will serve as a basis for reflection by the citizen and Strasbourg jury, and this is a great novelty, which will be put in place shortly until February 2023. This volunteer jury will be made up of 50 volunteers chosen according to representative criteria, based on 12,000 people selected by lot and registered on electoral lists.
As many explanatory letters will be sent this month.
This jury will meet the various partners, decision-makers and elected officials who participate in the development of the Christmas market.
The opportunity to also discover behind the scenes of the event, to visit other Alsatian markets in order to participate in the new orientations which will be visible during the 2023 edition.
A new way of counting visitors
The opportunity this Tuesday was also to present refined attendance figures, as this will define future strategies.
Although the 2021 edition suffered from the Covid wave and difficult weather, visitors responded despite an estimated drop of 20% compared to 2019. A good result, however, because the drop is much less significant than elsewhere indicates the city.
"Strasbourg is in the top 5 of the most resilient cities", welcomed Mayor Jeanne Barseghian.
But it must be recognized, counting the number of visitors who came especially for the occasion is not easy and until now it was done a little sloppily.
A number generally estimated at 2.5 million for each month of December.
Objective, to obtain “quantitative but above all qualitative estimates to identify the typology of visitors and develop the best offer that corresponds.
And it is with surprise that a first and new estimate of 5.2 million visitors to the Big Island came out of the hat.
That's double, but a figure immediately tempered by the elected official: "With this new methodology, we don't necessarily have the ability to know if it's people who cross, who work, who go to school, who come to the Christmas market….
This is why these data will be refined over the years.
It's a year zero and within two, even three years, we will have an exact figure and typology of visitors to Strasbourg Capitale de Noël.
»
In 2021, of these 5.2 million registered visitors, 43% are from the Eurometropolis and 24% from Alsace and the Grand-Est region.
Only 9% of the Paris region.
Big surprise, international customers represent only 1% of visitors.
A figure already observed in 2019. “We are not in a logic of mass tourism which passes quickly, we are in this potential for loyalty, of people who come from one year to another.
“A loyalty account in short…
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