Summer isn’t over yet! But where is the good weather and its summer temperatures hiding? In the heart of Nice, in the narrow streets of the old town, tourists are bustling between an ice cream and a socca, a postcard, and a souvenir gift. But what do some merchants think? Has the tourist attendance rate in Old Nice contributed to an increase in their revenues?
“There are too many people, especially in August! Call me back in September,” apologizes the manager of Fenocchio ice cream shop, who doesn’t have time to respond to Nice-Premiere. For this merchant, tourists are indeed there, in front of her shop window, spending their time refreshing their taste buds. Indeed, according to a survey by the PACA region’s CRT, the tourist attendance rate is considered “quite good to good” by 75% of the professionals surveyed for the month of July, and “good” by 78% of them for August.
But while tourists honor their reservations in the 185 hotels of the city, they do not necessarily open their wallets. In Old Nice, there are neither hotels nor guest houses or hostels. If tourists wander through the streets of the old town, it’s because they seek the local speaking his dialect, want to taste his traditional cuisine, take pictures of the houses with Provençal colors, and breathe in the country’s scents. “They walk around, pass by the shops but do not spend much,” declares Daniel Silvetti, restaurateur of (Lu Fran Calin) specializing in Niçois cuisine. At Hélène Albou’s, manager of the *Bar des Oiseaux*, which she took over in January 2006 from the comedian Noëlle Perna, known as “Mado the Niçoise,” “tourists come to visit the café-theater as if they were on a pilgrimage in a church. They enter, look around, and leave as if nothing happened.”
Fortunately for Daniel and Hélène, it is the regulars who make up their main clientele. For him, his turnover remains stable throughout the year: “People seek quality products, reasonable prices, and a warm welcome. They want to be respected.” And Hélène adds: “*Le Bar des Oiseaux* projects more of a winter image than summer, which is why we take our annual holidays at the end of August and reopen at the beginning of September.” Then, the season starts again between the restaurant during the day and themed evenings and concerts at night.
The significant tourist attendance throughout the city does not necessarily ensure an increase in revenue for all the merchants in the old town, except perhaps for the ice cream vendors. But the fact that tourists are spending less is not the only reason for the economic stability of tourist revenues. Professionals all agree that the World Cup hurt their business from June, then came the heatwave in July, and recently, heavy rain and a cold snap in the middle of August. “Not to forget the travel agencies, which according to a friend working in the field, advise tourists, both French and foreign, not to come to Nice due to the tramway works blocking the northern accesses to the old town and preventing people from parking,” asserts Fabrice Rochefer, who runs the *Nocy-Bé*, a hookah bar specializing in teas from around the world. However, he agrees, August got off to a good start, and overall the figures are not better than last year, but no worse either.
That said, the old town should not turn into a neighborhood of regulars and residents where tourists would only pass through to eat a pizza. And why not four?
