No, it’s not just an impression: Charente and Charente-Maritime have been crowded with tourists since the beginning of summer 2022! The numbers haven’t come in yet. But they draw a well better season than 2020 and 2021, the last two years having been weighed down by the Covid-19. We are getting closer to the statistics for the year 2019, according to Charentes Tourisme, the organization that oversees tourist activities in our two departments.
The hinterland is increasingly attractive
Holidaymakers remain mainly attracted by blue tourism : the islands of Ré, Oléron, Aix and the beaches of Châtelaillon and the town of Royan, where there are many campsites. In La Rochelle, the maritime excursions and the Aquarium were also once again taken by storm. But other treasures of our departments are attracting more and more people.
– Clara Guichon
“We are gaining market share in the hinterlandnotes Stéphane Villain, president of Charentes Tourisme, and especially in Charente. I am thinking of Angoulême, Cognac or Confolens.“This development is very soft in some townsas in Saint-Jean-d’Angély, in Charente-Maritime.
The bicycle boom
Holidaymakers discover the department on a hike, on horseback or by bike. “And what is interesting is that these are tourists who do not pollute and who consume an average of 71 euros per day and per personsays Stéphane Villain. They take advantage of our heritage, stop at a good restaurant and rest at the hotel.“
Our two departments have five cycle routes and a range of cycle paths. “We must continue to develop the infrastructure for our bicycles“, continues Stéphane Villain. He would like to develop “bike reception” points and provide even better information on the different cycling routes that exist in our territory.
The return of foreign tourists
85% of our tourists are French. But more and more Southerners are coming back to us. And this year marks the great return of foreigners: English, Germans, Dutch, Belgians but also, more and more, Spaniards. The company Croisières Inter-Îles, which carry out sea excursions departing from La Rochelle, has witnessed this phenomenon.