Last week, French Tourism Minister Olivia Gregoire announced a plan to regulate visitor flows at France’s most popular sites, as well as a plan to combat overtourism, reports AFP.
Gregoire said the country needed to better manage the peak-season influxes that threatened the environment, the quality of life for locals and the experiences for its visitors. “It's up to the government, working hand in hand with regional officials and tourist sites, to implement measures for informing tourists and locals, and to help manage the crowds."
Many of the most admired French sites, such as the Mont-Saint-Michel abbey in Normandy, say they are overwhelmed by the number of visitors as international travel surges post-COVID lockdowns.
On the Channel beach of Etretat, which saw tourism increase thanks to hit Netflix detective series Lupin, the 1 200 residents see up to 10 000 tourists a day in the high season. Co-head of the Etretat Tomorrow residents’ association Shai Mallet said: "This massive influx ends up trampling and eroding the cliffs and endangers the beach cliffs.”
Officials are already capping day visits to the island of Brehat in Brittany at 4 700 during the peak summer months, while the Calanques national park near Marseille announced it would maintain its free reservation system for the next five years for visitors to the Sugiton coves. The reservations system was implemented during COVID and has continued, and proved effective at limiting numbers to the satisfaction of local authorities – the site now allows just 400 people a day in July and August, compared with 2 500 previously.
The government will set up an industry monitoring group to identify the sites most at risk and build strategies for encouraging off-season visits. Higher lodging taxes or access fees could also form part of the plan to help communities cope with the tourist crowds.
