The tourists are finally back in the Audomarois marshes. The season had a difficult start with the long-term effects of flooding, then with the cool and cloudy spring. But the sun is back, and so are the tourists.
For boat rental companies, “we really needed it”
“To board, it’s this way!“, says Lenny, the boatman from Ô Marais, to the small group of retirees who have come to Clairmarais from Steenvoorde. There are about twenty of them settling in in the two bacôvesthese traditional flat-bottomed boats.
“We were looking for different activities, and we thought the weather was going to be nice.“, explains the treasurer of this association of retirees, Christine. Indeed, the weather is nice, and very hot: we are close to the 30 degrees this Wednesday in Clairmarais. “It’s so hot we need some water“, laughs his friend Bruno.
The manager, Élodie Leleu, watches the group leave with a smile on her face. “We’re really starting up again this week, and we really needed it“, she says.
Long-term effects of flooding
The start of the season was calm. If the groups were essentially there, they were especially the individuals who missed the call. The weather factor, with a gloomy spring, had a lot to do with it, but the floods of December and January also played a role.
“In people’s minds, I think they wondered if it was as beautiful as before, if there were still traces, so it took them a while to come backcontinues Élodie Leleu. But the water rose and fell, and it’s still just as beautiful!“If flood damage always complicates the lives of many victims, seen from the outside, the marsh is once again become a little gem of nature.
But the images of Audomarois underwater have left their mark, confirms Julien Duquenne, director of SPL Tourism in Pays de Saint-Omer: “There are groups who don’t come, or tour operators who say that due to the impact it has had in the media it will be difficult to fill buses.“, he explains.
All the way to New York to change image
Objective for him: show that the territory can once again welcome tourists quite normally. “Once the sun comes back and all this has passed, we return to our jobs. This is all behind us, at least for a while. We are ready, more than ready!“, insists Julien Duquenne.
Boat rental companies and restaurateurs affected were all able to reopen for the season. Only one guest house affected by the floods has decided not to resume its activity.
To make tourists want to come again, but also to boost the morale of the locals, the tourist office went so far as to display a promotional spot in Times Square, New York. We see the Audomarois marsh spread out on the most famous advertising screens in the world. A little boost for the more than 1,100 people who make a living from tourist activity in the sector.
