At sea at Cap d'Agde or on the Canal du Midi, the challenges of tourism on the water

The aging of boaters, a finding that must be taken into account, including in Cap d'Agde. MIDI LIBRE – MICHEL DESNOS

Organized by the Union of Port Cities of Occitanie, a conference devoted to boating, tourism and the development strategies to be implemented was held in Narbonne (11).

This is a conference that was of primary interest to the port of Cap d’Agde that recently took place in Narbonne, in the premises of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Boaters, an aging community

Indeed, at a time when the city of Agde is preparing to take over the management of port facilities under municipal control and therefore to put an end to the existence of Sodéal, the president of the Union of Port Cities of Occitanie, Serge Pallarès, an organization of which the mayor of Agde Sébastien Frey is also the vice-president, did not hide his current pessimism, nor his ambitions to boost this sector tourist.

To illustrate his observation, he gave evidence of the situation on the Atlantic coast. And to recall that until recently, it took seven years to obtain a mooring ring there. Today, customer renewal is slowing down so much that from the Oléron basin to the North, there are unfilled places. “In the Mediterranean, we cannot and we must not wait to be impacted in turn! The boating population is aging – around sixty years on average – , costs are increasing and we must listen to customer demands. To attract new ones. We must give meaning to boating. Buying a boat, whatever it may be, is satisfying a passion. And as a result, flourishing” , stressed Serge Pallarès.

Improving security in ports

These remarks echo those made by Boris Riu, director of the company Marine Center, which sells and rents boats from Saint-Cyprien (66) and Cap-d’Agde. “Pleasure boaters don't know what to do with their boat”, the company director asserted. The same discourse is heard from the “boat clubs”, structures that allow all-inclusive rentals on the coast but whose customers are sometimes left wanting more.

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This conference confirmed the ideas put forward by the Idea firm regarding the recreational boating-tourism context: port users want quality services, wish to “give meaning to their holidays”, “to have a link with maritime heritage and traditions.” Themes defended by blogger Hervé Grauby, who also defends the urgent need to improve reception in ports, especially in terms of security. “It is essential to have a radio response when you announce yourself at the entrance to a port, to be accompanied” , he says. Boater, Angélique Bleuset confirms a general request from those interviewed: according to her, assistance with mooring, from a boatswain in ports, can be a major asset for the destination.

The assets of the Canal du Midi

As for river tourism, on the Canal du Midi, Laurent Cyrot, project manager for the regional prefecture, also advocates links between water and land. “For a long time, the Canal du Midi was divided into sixteen intercommunalities”, he recalls. “Now, this unique asset, which is the subject of an institutional brand and a universal heritage classification, is a real network, particularly towards the land.” He notes that “the French, along the canal, are today at the water's edge, the foreigners on the water. The followers of “slow tourism” (slow tourism) are aging. In a context where it is getting hotter and hotter, where trees are disappearing, there is a need to develop seasonal wings. The Canal du Midi ticks all the boxes for tourism today and tomorrow. There is no reason why it should not be maintained and developed”, he thinks. An observation that interests the city of Agde, in particular as part of the project to create a river port on the Canal du Midi, near the Riquet hotel.

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