Tourist attendance in Hérault: the professionals have their say

De gauche à droite : Camille Galtier, patron de l'Hôtel des Arts à Montpellier ; Eddy Caby, serveur au Café du Théâtre de Montpellier ; et Philippe Robert, patron du Camping Méditerranée-Plage à Vias. Midi Libre – GIACOMO ITALIANO/FLORENCE GUILHEM/JEAN-MARC BART

"Morose", "windy", "hyper calm", "catastrophic", there is no shortage of adjectives in the mouths of tourism professionals to qualify the month of July. Testimonials from a campsite boss, a hotelier and a waiter.

Summer is no longer what it used to be. Between an ubuesque French political situation, with the dissolution of the National Assembly and the return to the polls, late school holidays, purchasing power at half mast and the Olympic Games, the summer season in the country Hérault didn’t really start off under the best auspices.

In the absence of a good month of July, tourism professionals are hoping to make up for it in August and the late season. Three of them spoke to share their feelings with us.

Philippe Robert: “We're doing better than the others”

Philippe Robert, owner of Camping Méditerranée-Plage in Vias. Midi Libre – JEAN-MICHEL MART

Camping. While the outdoor accommodation sector in Hérault is the one that is doing best in July compared to the total number of overnight stays in Occitanie (– 5% compared to – 2 to – 3%) and on a French scale (– 9.2%), it is also struggling. "July was not a good month, but the season will be good, at least in Occitanie. The forecasts are positive with + 5 % in Occitanie and between + 6.5 to + 7.5 % in Hérault. And September is looking good", says Philippe Robert, owner of Camping Méditerranée Plage in Vias, and president of the Hérault Federation of outdoor hotels.

As for all other sectors of tourism, "2023 having been the best year we have had, July felt like a real brake, but nothing catastrophic“, he insists. What was missing to reverse the trend ? Last-minute bookings. But also the gloomy weather in July, the drop in the purchasing power of the French and a climate of uncertainty linked to the political and social context.

“We recorded a decline in French tourists and a real uncertainty during the first fifteen days of July. Then, it started up again quietly“, he explains. Especially since the weather on the Atlantic coast was much worse. Hence a shift in customers, particularly in Hérault, which is the department in France with the highest number of overnight stays in outdoor hotels (10 million, Editor's note).”In my seaside campsite, we managed well. We made more than 5% in the number of overnight stays. On the other hand, we note an increase in additional expenses, namely catering, bars, well-being, etc. There, it was a big slap in the face. But the purchase of holidays is not called into question for all that. It's a safe bet“, he concludes.

Camille Galtier : “July was a very sluggish month”

Camille Galtier, owner of the Hôtel des Arts, in the city center of Montpellier. Midi Libre – GIACOMO ITALIANO

Hotels. After the tidal wave, in the post-Covid period and in the summer season, of a French-French clientele, then foreign as the borders opened, it is no longer the same euphoria in 2024. "With the exception of the absence of customers who come to Montpellier to spend the weekend, the month of June went very well for us“, says Camille Galtier, who took over the Hôtel des Arts (21 rooms, Editor's note) in 2000, which has been in the family since the end of the 1990s.
Thinking he could find this weekend clientele again in July, the hotelier remains calm. But nothing of the sort happens during the first two weeks. “We said to ourselves that it would really take off after the 14th, but it never really took off. July was a very sluggish month“, he notes. And the observation is all the more painful since 2023 was “an exceptional year in terms of occupancy rates and average prices. Neither my parents nor I had recorded such results. We were full all the time“, he explains.

65% occupancy rate in July 2024 compared to 100% in the same period in 2023, the pill is inevitably bitter. Between the Olympic Games which have turned away from France foreign customers who are not interested in it, late school holidays, the dissolution of the National Assembly and the return to the polls, or even inflation, “we find ourselves struggling and in a climate where it is difficult for everyone to plan“, comments Camille Galtier. Drawing the outlines of what August will be like in terms of occupancy rate is an impossible mission, although the start is better than in July. “Reservations are increasingly made on a day-to-day basis. This morning (August 6, Editor's note), I had 9, at 5pm, 6pm. That same day, I have 50% of rooms reserved for Saturday and 30% for Sunday. Everything will change on Saturday at 2pm, at the last minute.”

Eddy Caby: “The beginning of summer was super quiet”

Eddy Caby, waiter at the Café du Théâtre, Place de la Comédie, in Montpellier. FREE MIDI – FLORENCE GUILHEM

Restoration. "Usually, we run everywhere, but not at all this time. July was a very quiet month. We were almost overstaffed. The season started in mid-July, much later than usual, and timidly“, confides the waiter, who has been working since 2017 at the Café du Théâtre, located on Place de la Comédie, right next to the Opera.

In terms of staff, with three waiters on the terrace, a bartender, his second and a runner, it was almost too much. “The job could have been done with just the waiters, who are seasoned tradespeople“, he comments, before answering another waiter's question and continuing to take a look at what's happening on the terrace. Seasoned, he is.

Would the Paris Olympics have had an impact on the summer season in Montpellier in July?? That's what the entire team thought at first, imagining that the city would be emptied of its inhabitants and welcome fewer tourists.
“Ultimately, quite a few fled Paris and came to us. But, in reality, not that many. And we had fewer French tourists than usual, especially from the North“, he observed in July. Yet, to his great surprise, the turnover result was “less catastrophic than what we had imagined with a rather slow month for us. This even surprised our boss“, says Eddy Caby.

While the results are probably not at the level of 2023, they are less low than the first rough estimates. This means that everyone was expecting the worst. Even if it is still not the mad rush to the coffee that it was last season, August promises to be more active, or rather "like a classic start to the season".

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