La Coupole was full this Saturday morning in Villard-de-Lans. The village hall hosted at the will of the town hall a public meeting to introduce residents to the Ananda Resort project, a 900-bed hotel with facilities for indoor activities. Behind this project is French basketball star Tony Parker.
A controversial project…
However, if the elected officials seem rather to see this project with a good eye, on the other hand, there is less consensus among the population local. “I think the project is fantastic, for the 1970s“, ironically Yves. “But today, it doesn’t seem sustainable to me, because it doesn’t take into account two things. On the one hand: the rise in the price of energy which will inevitably impact a project like this. And on the other hand: the evolution of society, in this respect, I think there is better to do than investing in tourism at all costs“.
But for Guillaume Puel, one of the project leaders on site, it is a necessary investment on the contrary. The president of the SEVLC, the company which manages the ski lifts in Villard-de-Lans and Corrençon en Vercors, ensures that the station can no longer rely solely on day-to-day customers : “We need to have a clientele to stay. This day clientele suits us, but it’s an economic model that is far too fragile. Today we have people when we have snow and sun. This stay clientele would allow us to secure our economic model through reservations“.
… and above all arouses mistrust!
Not enough to convince everyone. “Isn’t that going to raise prices_ here, people already have a lot of trouble finding accommodation“, worries Jeff. “I think we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that the audience we welcome here is a family audience, attached to nature. So we really have to stay in this perspective“, adds Philip. “When we don’t move forward, we don’t go backwards__”, tempers Serge, “a project which allows to widen the attendance here seems interesting to me“.”There will be positive and negative repercussions“, concludes Caroline. “We may also have an increase in the ski pass, and that’s the concern of small families who come to have fun in Villard-de-Lans“.