Tourism in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques: stable attendance, fewer overnight stays and less spending this summer

New regulations on furnished tourist accommodation have led to a drop in the number of overnight stays in the Basque Country, according to the Departmental Tourism Agency. In this region, as in Béarn, several rural areas have been able to attract visitors.

Back-to-school refrain: while the mountain resorts are the stars of the show in winter, the Basque Country is more talked about than the Pyrénées-Atlantiques in the summer... With 5.4 million visitors this summer to the Basque Country, compared to 2.5 million in Béarn.

Ultimately, it's no big news: visitors continue to love the department, especially in August. The decline (0.6%) is so slight that summer attendance is considered stagnant by the Béarn Pays Basque Departmental Tourism Agency (ADT 64), which organized a press briefing on September 3. However, certain trends are consistent with the strategies put in place, according to the new director of the ADT 64, Philippe Campa.

In Béarn, the Pays de Nay, spoiled by the Tour de France, recorded a 10% increase, while the Béarn des Gaves (+23%) enjoyed "an excellent month of July," followed by a peak of 15,000 visitors on August 9. In the Basque Country, rurality is also working wonders, with an 8% jump observed this summer in Aldudes and another 6% in the Bidache, Saint-Palais, Hasparren and La Bastide-Clairence area, where a million visitors sniffed out the authenticity.

In other words, a better geographical distribution of flows (due to coastal overcrowding, in peaks) seems on the right track, in line with the wishes of the ADT 64, which also aims to spread out stays, "throughout the year." "Tourism players have understood the benefit of moving upmarket," adds Philippe Campa. He also knows that events play an important role in the hinterland. "But," he says, "we don't have control over that."

On the other hand, the ADT 64 can exert its influence through targeted communication actions: "It's been a while since we've done anything to encourage tourists to come to the coast in summer. It's different for the Basque countryside and Béarn. The coastline is only the subject of very targeted operations; in particular, we launched an action aimed at the Spanish market to attract this clientele here in November."

"In the national ranking of tourist numbers, the Pyrénées-Atlantiques come in 15th for July and 14th for August," continues Philippe Campa. "Our goal is not to become the first." "That's true," opines the president of ADT 64 and mayor of Laàs, Jacques Pédehontaà. "Nevertheless, I think we can gain two or three places, provided, of course, that we continue to better distribute the flows in time and space."

Philippe Campa also notes "a constant increase in accommodation capacity in each region." Christophe Voisin, ADT's development director, adds: "In January, the agency began prospecting for investors who could fill the gaps in the countryside, whether it be through the takeover or creation of accommodation."

Accommodation, in fact, is in sharp decline in the Basque Country, despite equivalent occupancy. With a 5% drop in overnight stays, the new regulations on furnished tourist accommodation (in the 24 municipalities of the tight real estate zone) are "clearly the cause of this phenomenon." "But the remaining furnished accommodations are showing better occupancy," Philippe Campa emphasizes. This is a problem not experienced in Béarn, where tourist overnight stays are "only" down 2%. This phenomenon is combined with a departmental trend: the increase in the number of day-trippers (+1%) and the decline in tourists (-4%)...

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