Montpellier. Tourism: Summer figures finally return to pre-Covid-19 levels

The summer season is not over yet, but tourism professionals are smiling. The first results are very positive. According to figures from theMontpellier Méditerranée Métropole tourist and convention officenearly five million overnight stays were recorded from January to May 2024. A figure up 6% compared to last year. This is officially the first time that attendance has returned to, and exceeded, its 2019 level, post-Covid-19.

The year’s results have not yet been finalized, but the trend looks set to be satisfactory. While the Tourist Office welcomed 510 people per day in January, it had more than 1,100 visitors per day five months later.

Proximity is increasingly attractive

Holidaymakers are increasingly attracted by local tourism. A legacy of the Covid-19 crisis. “This period has allowed the Héraultais to regain a certain interest in Montpellier and its historic center,” assures Cyril Meunier, president of the Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole Tourist and Convention Office, mayor of Lattes. Thus, the tourist institution has decided to develop its offer of guided tours, combining discovery of heritage and unusual experiences.

For example, the Arc de Triomphe can be visited with an additional fee including a glass of wine or an early breakfast. Since June, a narrated night tour of the Garden of plants has also been launched. For 1 hour 45 minutes, tourists discover the legends that enchant this place, as well as the surrounding flora and fauna. Still in the nocturnal theme, an evening animation on the banks of the Lez allows you to discover bats. A heritage facilitator uses specialized equipment to transcribe the ultrasounds emitted by these animals, complementing this activity with a walk and listening sessions.

Among other new features: the celebration of 80 years of the Liberation through a guided tour, which will begin at the end of August and continue for a year, exploring the war in Montpellier and the city’s emancipation from the Vichy regime. Finally, during the summer period, the Tourist Office reinforces its à la carte visits to monuments for 5 euros lasting less than an hour. These include the Mikvé, the Opéra Comédie, the Arc de Triomphe, the Arbre Blanc, the Hôtel Saint-Côme and the Saint-Roch church.

The return of foreign tourists

This summer marks the Return of foreign customers in Montpellier, more diversified than in previous years, and very Eurocentric. In two years, the number of foreign tourist overnight stays has increased by around 9%, with the Spanish, English, Germans, Swiss, Belgians, Italians and then the Dutch in the lead. “We are also seeing an increasingly marked American appetite,” confirms the director, Marie-Dominique Bellamy.

In parallel with this new trend, leisure tourism is experiencing significant growth. “While business tourism once represented 60% of the clientele, since last year, a balance has tended to be created,” explains Cyril Meunier, designating this phenomenon as a “progression of leisure tourism”, and not a “weakening of business tourism”.

Tourist boom, but…

However, the tourist boom is slowed by the complex handling of groups. “When coaches arrive, we have no solution to take tourists as close as possible to the historic centre. If we have to, for example, explain to elderly people that they have to walk 800 metres to get to the Fabre Museum, that can be complicated,” concedes the president of the Tourist Office.

Towards more accessible tourism

The tourism sector is constantly evolving, continually seeking to open up to as many people as possible without distinction. It is with this in mind that the Montpellier structure, labeled Tourism and Handicap, offers new inclusive visits, taking into account visible or non-visible disabilities. “We have expanded our offering for people with reduced mobility by evaluating the accessibility of each street in l’Écusson, something new for this summer. In addition, we are developing specific tours such as street-art tours and architectural tours,” adds Marie-Dominique Bellamy

Another big novelty this year is linked to the training of guides to carry out visits adapted to people with psychological or cognitive disabilities. These visits are available privately, but also open to the general public. In total, between 1,200 and 1,300 slots are offered per year.

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