why the parking lot at the Palais des Papes was full this summer
This is a first since 2019 [l’année de référence du tourisme à Avignon, NDLR] : the car park at the Palais des Papes, with its 825 spaces, was full from the end of the morning this summer.
“With the heat wave, we noticed that visits to historical monuments, such as the Popes’ Palace, took place between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.,” says Marc Simelière, municipal councilor, tourism delegate and president of Avignon tourism. The assigned visitors are added “those who go to the restaurant and those who go to their classes”.
In August alone, the Palais des Papes and the Pont Saint-Bénézet recorded nearly 93,000 admissions respectively for one and more than 90,000 for the other. Notable figures, but which remain, in total, in December of the reference year 2019, which had 72,000 entries for the Pont d’Avignon and 104,000 for the Palace of the Popes.
Use of the Palais car park increases by 11% in 2022
But visiting historical monuments only partly influences car park attendance, reveals Marc Simelière. In July 2019, there were 36,000 passages and this year, more than 41,000, he gives as an example.
Although the month of August therefore shows a slight decrease compared to last year, the parking lot of the Palais des Papes saw its entries increase by 11%. “I think that the confinement was traumatic for many, and that with the current geopolitical context, people say to themselves that it is better to go there now because nobody knows what can still happen”, analyzes Marc Simelière.
For the president of Avignon Tourisme, what has also favored the use of the car park this summer is the exhibition Amazon, ” [qui] kept quite a lot of people”. “It’s a plus compared to the usual attendance. Avignon remains an attractive city”, rejoices the delegate for tourism.