At the Vence town hall this morning, elected officials in charge of tourism and heads of the metropolitan tourism offices gathered around Rudy Salles, President of the Tourism and International Relations Commission. They all discussed the tourism aspect as the NOTRe bill, concerning territorial reform, is soon to be reviewed in a joint committee. Announced objective: to work collectively so that each municipality benefits from the advantages of tourism.
The Nice Côte d’Azur metropolis comprises 49 municipalities, from Nice to Saint Dalmas le Selvage, including Isola or Levens. Not all have the prestige of cities close to the coast, and disparities in the promotion of certain local authorities have arisen. On the tourism offices side, the lack of resources is blamed for the inability to harmonize the metropolitan tourism data. And by general agreement, the feedback from Nice to the surrounding areas is insufficient. To remedy this, Rudy Salles explains, “a system has been in place for three years to centralize information. It is crucial software for communication but difficult to implement, even in Nice,” he adds.
This information is valuable for the villages, as it indicates the existence or absence of lodgings for hiking, campsites, etc. They also include routes linking all the municipalities, from the seaside to the mountains. The head of the Regional Tourism Committee is aware of their importance and the need to develop the database to highlight the Nice hinterland. A guide featuring the metropolis’ routes and the services offered by location should be created.
“There’s no sense in working competitively” (Rudy Salles
Another issue is transportation. The tourism official from Saint-Jeannet mentions the high demand from tourists to visit the villages, as they are poorly or even not informed at all. Rudy Salles proposes a working group on this important subject. “We need to make a connection between the sea and the mountains,” he announces. He takes the upcoming opening of the Polygone Riviera in Cagnes-sur-mer as an example and wants the economic benefits to equally reach the more marginalized.
This involves setting up reflection groups, in order “to improve internal communication.” The official concludes by mentioning the nonsense of “working competitively, but rather in complementarity.”
