In campsites on the Béziers coast, the season is starting slowly but should be “excellent”, according to professionals

This summer, the swimming pool at the “Les Sables du Midi” campsite will be crowded. Midi Libre – Rodrigue Delpas

Le camping “La Méditerranée”, à Vias, devrait être “complet tout l’été”.

Alors que l’été approche et que la chaleur fait son retour, dans les campings du littoral biterrois, les professionnels de l’hôtellerie de plein air s’attendent à un été excellent.

That's it! The sun is coming out, the days are getting longer and summer time has made its return. Despite the wind, temperatures are rising, it's getting hotter and hotter. The high season is approaching for campsites on the Béziers coast. Besides, some have already opened.

This is the case of the  camping "Les sables du midi", which extends over the communes of Valras-Plage and Sérignan. "For the lower part, since March 9 to the owners, explains Florence Le Bars, director of vacationers and accommodation. For the upper part, since March 30 for renting vacationers."

Sparsely filled campsites in April…

This holiday establishment is a bit special since it offers two types of activities: the sale of bungalows and rental. This double service therefore influences its filling. "For the moment, we mainly have owners who have been there since the opening, adds Florence Le Bars. During the April holidays, in principle, we don't have too many people. It's mainly the owners who come. At the moment, I would say that we are at around 10% of our reception capacity."

In Vias, the campsite "La Méditerranée" is closed. It will only open by the end of April. "For the moment we have not yet opened. Historically, we don't have too many people at this time, says Philippe Robert, the boss of the establishment and president of the LR federation of the establishment. outdoor accommodation . It will start to get interesting from the beginning of May. With public holidays, there are several big weekends, so people are used to booking at these times. Particularly on the Pentecost weekend which corresponds to the German school holidays."

…But which will be full this summer

This Easter period is therefore not the best. On the other hand, the season should be "very successful this summer with very fruitful months of July and August. Today, around half of our bungalows are already rented for the months of July and August, rejoices the director holidaymakers and accommodation at &quot ;Sables du midi". These are quite interesting figures. For the moment, we are following our forecast. And we're doing even better than last year at the same date."

The feeling is the same on Vias' side. "Reservations for the summer have already started, says the director of the "La Méditerranée" campsite.  I think we will be full all summer, except the first week of July. It’s a first week which is always complicated, then summer begins. Then the high season is also shifted to the month of September, we receive a lot of people at that time as well."

Moreover, at "Sables du Midi”, which trains its animators internally, the animation teams  have already been recruited for the most part. On the other hand, on the catering and cleaning side, recruitment is more difficult…

Three questions to Philippe Robert, president of the LR outdoor hotel federation

How does summer look like?< /p>

The upcoming season promises to be truly excellent. It should be as good or even better than that of last year which was already good. have an excellent year. The year 2023 is the best we have had since Covid, in 2019.

D’où come the tourists who arrive on the Béziers coast ?

We work a lot with the Germans. This is the nationality of the country. most present with the French. But this year, there has been a strong comeback by the Dutch, who are almost as numerous as the Germans. There are also some English people.

&Are you impactedé by global warming?

I would say that what impacts us the most in global warming is drought. It happens regularly that people ask us about this. They want to know if we are paying attention, especially regarding water restrictions, when filling swimming pools. But, if they continue to come, it is because they know that we are managing. Concerning the risk of fires, these are things that can happen anywhere, we cannot anticipate it so I do not think that this is a real impact .

Some figures on the 2023 season

In 2023, from April & In October, the campsites of the Agglomeration Béziers Méditerranée had 20&855 beds*, or 78 fewer than during October. rsquo;previous year to due to the redevelopment of pitches in certain campsites. The filling rate was increased. by 35.7%, which represents an increase of 2.9% compared to the previous year. the year 2022.

1 615 003 nightées were é recorded, an increase of 8.6% compared to the previous year. the previous year. 54.9% of reservations come from abroad, a figure up 4.1%. Mainly Germans, followed by Dutch and Swiss.

* 46% of campsites in the Agglomeration responded to this question. this study. It is accessible in its entirety. on https://www.beziers-mediterranee.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/bilan-fin-de-saison-2023-G2A-Beziers-Mediterranee.pdf.

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