President of the Aude delegation of the Outdoor Hotel Federation (FHPA), Antoine Lacuve, at the head of two campsites in the department, in Villegly and Arques, ensures that the sector has already started to change. Between technical solutions, a bet on nature and user awareness, he wants to believe in a future for establishments which will be hit hard by the accumulation of scorching days and nights during which the temperature will not fall below 20° c.
President since June 2024 of the Outdoor Hotel Federation (FHPA) in Aude, Antoine Lacuve ensures that the subject of global warming is well on the industry's agenda: “We are working on it, with discussions in regional meetings. We are deep in thought to find solutions to adapt.” A real emergency, in Occitanie, and of course in Aude, the “hotspot” of global warming, where change is happening faster and stronger.
At the head of two establishments in Aude, Le Moulin de Sainte-Anne in Villegly and InNature in Arques, Antoine Lacuve has already taken the environmental turn: first by calling on the local sector to source “wood from the Black Mountain, a few kilometers from the campsite”to achieve “our constructions, framework, cladding, stakes, terrace”. But also by committing to an eco-environmental approach, between insulation of pipes (insulation, editor's note), mixer on each tap, LED lighting, activation card for rental air conditioning with consumption reading, selective sorting and compost. On the Arques site, designed on the edge of a lake, Antoine Lacuve is also working on photovoltaic panels to achieve “self-consumption”banking on “loans at attractive rates” that some banking establishments offer for environmental work. A way of reminding us that, “by using solar panels to heat water”energy consumption can also be reduced: “There’s not only bad things in the sun.”
Offer a discount for a future stay to customers who have been particularly thrifty
Small or big gestures, this is the logic that the outdoor hotel industry must develop. Water is obviously on the front line, with the quest for savings: “Generalize push buttons in showers and toilets, develop systems of connected bracelets which allow water to be triggered in showers, connected meters to detect possible leaks in networks which are significant on campsites which can reach the 5 hectares. We are also working on the recovery of gray water from rental properties, we are awaiting approval from the health authorities…” Here are some avenues already adopted by certain sites, or in consideration.
But these changes can only be made with the participation of customers, Antoine Lacuve knows well: “Everyone starts from the principle that when they have paid for a service, they have the right to everything, without reservation. We must succeed in integrating the same logic as when we teach our children that we turn off the light when we leaves a room. For our children, it's education. For our customers, it's awareness, while ensuring that we maintain the comfort they come for.”
And to encourage new practices, the technology is there: “Bioclimatic mobile homes exist. On rental properties, there is the solution of contactors, with the entry key which triggers the activation of the lights; for air conditioning, we have the solution of credit cards for 10 hours, a duration from which a supplement could be requested People will necessarily be more careful, for example by turning off the air conditioning when they go shopping. We can also think of an incentive, by offering a discount for a future. stay to customers who have been particularly thrifty.”
In an open-air hotel in Aude where Antoine Lacuve estimates “50/50” the distribution between rentals and tent sites, the president of the union wants to believe that campers will still have a future, despite the – very – hot days and heavy nights: “We can protect ourselves from the heat, even in a tent. By playing on the vegetation, the trees, even if we are caught between a rock and a hard place with safety issues to deal with the risk of forest fire, with the need to clear brush around the campsite But we are also taking action on mowing: there is no more close mowing, this allows grass and vegetation to be preserved.which beyond the effect on ground temperatures, also allows “promote biodiversity. Historically, camping is in a spirit of connection with nature, and for some this translates into installing nest boxes and insect hotels”.
On the vegetation side, still, it is on the basis of a study by the Regional Federation for the Defense against Pests (Fredon), engaged in particular in the monitoring of plant heritage, that the outdoor hotel industry has focused on plantations Mediterranean, less water intensive, and systematizes mulching to limit watering.
We find German tourists, who historically went to the seaside, in establishments inland
“Of course”he admits, “the clientele will seek freshness. We find German tourists in establishments inland, whereas until then they systematically went to the coast. But this clientele from the seaside, I think that they will still exist.” A hope based on a change in habits, too: “We must think about expanding the seasons, to avoid the rush in July and August”where attendance is historically highest. Where these days over 30°C and these tropical nights will also accumulate in 2050.
But Antoine Lacuve wants to believe that “the real strength of reactivity of the outdoor hotel industry, its solidarity, with the sharing of experience, will allow us to adapt. At the speed things are going, it will be another campsite in 2050. But camping exists in North Africa, or in Valencia: we need to be interested in their practices.”
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