Fires in Gironde: the tourist season at a standstill

Stéphane Place, edited by Alexis Rey-Millet 3:19 p.m., July 25, 2022, modified at 3:21 p.m., July 25, 2022

In Gironde, the situation continues to improve this morning on the fire front, despite some fire outbreaks yesterday.

Indeed, in Landiras and La Teste-de-Buch, in the Arcachon basin, the two lights are now "fixed".

But after having seen the images of the Dune du Pilat in the smoke, the charred forests, the evacuated tourists, the holidaymakers hesitate to come and spend their holidays in the region.

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 Bassin d'Arcachon: hoteliers deplore a large number of cancellations after the fires

Traders note a tourist disaffection

With tourist activity that has dropped by 40% in a few days, the disaffection is visible and sudden.

Cancellations in hotels, deserted beaches, flat calm in shops... Traders in Arcachon note the halt caused by the fires in the region, like Laëtitia, ice cream seller in Arcachon "It's the first season where there is not a quarter of an hour in line to get an ice cream. We felt it brutally when we had the wave of smoke due to the fires. It has to start again"

A hard blow also for oyster producers, as explained by Olivier Laban, the president of oyster farmers in the Arcachon basin: "Tastings are necessarily impacted, as are oyster farmers who sell oysters to restaurants, to large surfaces, etc. Insofar as there is a drop in attendance in the Arcachon basin, there is a drop in business."

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An advertising campaign to boost attendance

With a view to saving the tourist season, the Syndicat intercommunal du bassin d'Arcachon (Siba) is launching a major promotional campaign on television, in the press and on social networks.

“We are making a very strong communication plan with a spot that will be broadcast for two weeks and we have purchased digital space on press media such as

and 

.”

explains Yves Foulon, mayor of Arcachon and president of Siba.

An important issue for the region, since tourism allows, each year, to inject 760 million euros into the local economy.