At the end of a year complicated by the health crisis, the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis reviewed its 2021 tourism results and presented its plans for 2022.
It was at the Le Saint-Paul hotel near the Nice port that the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolitan Tourist Office presented its 2021 tourism report to an assembly of merchants, managers, and other tourism stakeholders.
Denis ZANON, the general director of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolitan Tourist Office, conducted the presentation of the report. To introduce it, he first noted that the year had been complicated due to the ongoing health crisis. In the spring, tourism was at its lowest level of activity. However, starting from June, tourism activity returned to the metropolis and became very significant from August to October.
One of the biggest factors for this slow start was, of course, the minimal presence of foreigners in the metropolis due to numerous health restrictions. As was emphasized during the presentation, Nice is a very tourist-heavy city, largely made up of foreign tourists (70%) against a small number of French tourists. The example of the airport was notably given: the United Kingdom, a major source of tourists, was only sending 1 or 2 planes per day this spring instead of the usual norm of 20 planes. “This clearly shows our total dependence on our airport.”
Despite this dependence on foreign tourists, the Metropolis managed to reverse the trend to attract many tourists from mainland France. “We managed to get them to come because we tick absolutely all the boxes, we have a coastline, mountains, winter sports… Any budget can find happiness in the metropolis.” It was also thanks to the actions of professionals and private stakeholders that these good numbers were achieved: “professionals in tourism re-evaluated themselves, and there were efforts from everyone to win this difficult battle.”
The Metropolis Tourism Office then provided some key figures from 2021:
An average hotel and accommodation occupancy rate of 65.9%: 1,794,862 nights, a 10% increase over 2020
4.3 million passengers at Nice airport, including 2.4 million French and 1.9 million foreigners
Onward to 2022
Denis Zanon then presented the major development areas and themes for 2022:
Culture and heritage: with Nice’s inscription to UNESCO and the candidacy to become the world capital of culture in 2028
Sport: the 2023 Rugby World Cup and the 2024 Olympics
Luxury: the promotion of the territory’s exclusive offerings
Active nature: to support the highlands and midlands
Itinerancy: to cater to increasing demand
For heritage and culture, the metropolis has decided to highlight its “exceptional cultural and heritage offerings” with the Matisse and Renoir museums, the Nice opera, the Victorine studios… A strong event strategy will be pursued around the carnival, exhibitions, concerts and festivals, theater… to upscale the national and international clientele seeking culture and heritage. Overall, this part of the metropolis represents over 100 million in investments and more than 120 major cultural sites.
For the sport theme, Denis Zanon first introduced “a top choice sports ambassador!”, the niçoise Fabio Quartararo, recently crowned MotoGP world champion. The years 2022 and 2023 will be devoted to Rugby in the context of the upcoming World Cup in two years in France. Four matches of the competition will be played in Nice, including the two semi-finals of the Top 14 next June. The metropolis aims to capitalize on high-ranking sporting events, and will continue to support regular events like the Nice-Cannes marathon, the IronMan, Paris-Nice…
The “Active Nature” section and its action plan were then presented to the assembly. The metropolis showcased its pride in being able to rely on a territory where “a complete offering meets all customer expectations” with the sea, mountains, and very green areas… “Everyone can find happiness, whether they are families, young couples, or seniors.” The strengths of the territory will especially be highlighted during several exhibitions to encourage and shine a light on the region.
Luxury “fits into a system of producing specific offers.” The metropolis decided to emphasize and specifically promote its metropolitan offerings. To reach this, it was decided to unite industry players (hotels, restaurants, shops…) to bring them together and ease their accessibility. An action plan will now be established by consulting stakeholders to then conduct a luxury-focused communication campaign.
The last theme is Itinerancy (a break from the fast-paced urban life). This break can be consolidated by, for example, using different modes of transport or returning to nature. The metropolis aimed to respond to this consumption mode by showcasing the various cycling practices possible in the territory. For this, a partnership with the press was established with three magazines to reach the English and German markets.
