The General Assembly of APTA°, the association of tourism professionals, took place this past Monday in the friendly setting of the restaurant l’Avenue at 27 Ribotti Street in Nice, in the presence of over a hundred representatives from institutions, members, and friends.
Founded over 20 years ago by Gaston FRANCO, current Member of the European Parliament, Michel TSCHANN, president of the Nice hoteliers’ union, and Max KRAUTH, then a tourism journalist, this association aimed to enhance the international image of Nice.
Composed of individuals from the hospitality, restaurant, travel agency sectors, public transport companies (both national and international), culture, and all professions related to tourism, it has become widely known by regularly meeting on Monday evenings in different dining venues to exchange ideas, propose, and innovate across all economic sectors.
Institutions responsible for tourism (CRT and the OT) have always been receptive to the feedback provided by APTA, as the freedom provided by the fact that its members have no duty of discretion has allowed for the discussion of various often contentious topics between elected officials and professionals who depend on their trade.
APTA members are also aware that tourism is the primary local economic driver as demonstrated by the Côte d’Azur Tourism site, which highlights three aspects: the coast, nature, and snow.
Since its inception, APTA has opened up to other areas such as sports events (International Marathon, International Half-Marathon, Prom’Classic, Ironman, Paris-Nice, International Figure Skating and Ice Dance Cup, Tennis Open, Extreme Sailing Series, Haute Route Geneva-Nice cycling race).
The economic impact of these events’ actors, as well as the participants, generates considerable benefits for tourism professionals, enabling regular hotel and restaurant attendance throughout the year and boosting luxury commerce and local products.
Of course, it was necessary to quantify the amounts generated by weekend athletes and their entourage, who after the event reside on the Côte between 3 and 4 days. This is why the UFR-STAPS of Nice was called upon to provide tangible and scientifically recognized data.
Thus, the 1st edition of the marathon, four years ago, allowed for the surveying of 900 foreigners out of the 10,000 participants and demonstrated that the amounts left by these special short-stay tourists ranged between 5 and 5.5 million euros, not including travel expenses from members of 46 nationalities coming to the Côte.
Using the Sphinx software and based on a questionnaire validated by the organizers, politicians truly became aware of the impact of this event, placing it at the forefront of Nice’s event scene.
Numerous academic publications have emerged thanks to researchers from the Management field, who are also APTA members (Bernard MASSIERA, Imed BEN MAHMOUD, Christian COGLIEVINA).
This acknowledgment by the research world is not insignificant and also contributes to the promotion of the city of Nice, outside the communication budget.
This is also the reason why four elected officials from Nice were present this Monday to attest to the transdisciplinary and professional unifying role that APTA plays in its various communication actions for the municipalities of the Metropolis.
