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Assumption Day, Monday August 15, is a peak in attendance in Lourdes. Since 2019, after two years of health crisis, pilgrims have struggled to return and have different profiles.
Monday August 15, 15,000 faithful attended the Mass of the Assumption in Lourdes (Hautes-Pyrénées). “It’s the first time I’ve come and I find it really good because I spend time with people I don’t know”, says a woman. The weekend of August 15 is a peak in attendance in Lourdes, but the pilgrims are fewer than before the pandemic. “We have more and more individual tourists who come (…) out of cultural curiosity”explains Pascale Fourticq, director of the Lourdes Tourist Office.
This change in audience has consequences for hotels. “Hotels that work with a little more French tourists and a little more individuals are doing a little better than those that tick the large group box, which are still not back”, explains Christian Gélis, president of the UMIH Hautes-Pyrénées. In 2022, 1.6 million visitors are expected in Lourdes, twice as many as in 2019.