record occupancy rates this summer in the Toulouse metropolitan area
Tourists are back in numbers in Toulouse and throughout the metropolis. Some tourist sites have broken attendance records this summer and the recommended for the start of the school year are also very encouraged. Jean-Claude Dardelet, deputy mayor of Toulouse and vice-president of Toulouse-Métropole in charge of attractiveness, was the guest of the morning of France Bleu Occitanie this Tuesday, August 30.
Has tourism resumed beautiful colors in the Toulouse metropolis?
Yes, the figures confirm it, the satisfaction of all Toulouse tourism operators too. By talking with them, we are starting to get some feedback from this summer. already summer started early, as early as June we started to see tourist cars, visitors, but also Toulouse families who were perhaps enjoying the city more after difficult summers. And hopes for September are already good.
What were the occupancy rates in Toulouse?
The Booking site announces a record occupancy rate, 60 to 70% this summer in the Toulouse metropolis. June and July got off to a strong start and then, with the heat wave, the month of August was a little more difficult. But overall the numbers are good. This is above what we initially hoped for. So the heat wave somewhat dampened growth, but growth remained.
Have we matched last year’s numbers, post-Covid numbers?
It’s a little uneven. In the city center, we reach 60 to 70%, around the airport we are more around 50-60%, but these are very good occupancy rates knowing that room prices have increased slightly. So in addition, we have gained in quality, an average basket which has also increased.
The tourists stayed a little longer. We realize that there is one more day, those who stayed two days now stay three days in Toulouse.
Toulouse becomes a base camp for visiting the region?
Yes, thanks to our investments during the Covid period. On a Toulouse installed as a base camp. There are cars that take you to the Comminges, the Frontonnais, the Lauragais and we also come to take advantage of the evening coolness in Toulouse, so we have also invested a lot around the water with the rental of small boats, kayaks. Slow tourism is developing.
A summer weighed down by the heat wave with a limited offer on the scale of the metropolis. Lac de la Ramée remained closed almost all summer, two swimming pools in Toulouse closed. Are you going to improve the offer in the future?
We are working on it. Even if it’s been a few summers since it’s been hot. We are taking stock of the commentary to adapt to these very hot sequences which could recur.
Advantage of open swimming pools next summer?
What we have noticed is that Toulouse is becoming Hispanic. Many tourist visits have been shifted to morning or evening. So we liven up the mornings and evenings more. Then yes, one wonders how to open swimming pools later in the evening.
Have tourist sites in the metropolis broken attendance records?
So yes, with an interesting lesson. The sites which proposed a new, unusual, immersive, singular animation exploded their figures. I can cite the Jacobins museum with a 40% increase compared to 2021 in admissions. At the Bazacle, the exhibition on Van Gogh in immersion registers a thousand visitors a day. The Cité de l’Espace also broke its records. On a doubled the number of nights until 11 p.m. On these nights, we had 30,000 visitors and I think we will reach 130,000 visitors during the summer and we will see 400,000 by the end of the year.