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🏖️ In the Var department, tourism professionals and institutions, including ADT Var Tourism and various interprofessional unions, gathered on September 6, 2024, at the Valgarde Golf terrace for the first assessment of the summer season. Notable attendees were Jean-Louis MASSON, President of the Var Departmental Council; Guillaume DECARD, President of Var Tourism; Jean-Pierre GHIRIBELLI, President of the Var UMIH; Isabelle LYOBARD, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur Delegate for FNRT; and Michel NORE, President of Var HPA. The meeting highlighted an increase in foreign visitors and an extended tourist season beyond the typical summer months.

🎭 Summer 2024 at the Théâtre antique d'Orange saw a record-breaking 180,000 visitors. Despite ongoing restoration work, the site's diverse cultural offerings, such as the virtual reality experience "Les secrets du Théâtre," attracted over 7,000 people with a satisfaction rate above 95%. "L'Odyssée Sonore" drew nearly 6,000 attendees, marking a 4% increase from summer 2023. Interactive educational workshops and the new "Les couloirs du temps" tour were also well-received, enhancing the 2,000-year history experience.

🍳 La 4e édition du concours Rational Cuisinons pour demain, destinée aux élèves et étudiants hôteliers, introduit une innovation avec deux recettes, une sucrée et une salée, sur le thème de la complicité culinaire. Les participants sélectionneront deux ingrédients végétaux pour leurs recettes, avec un accent sur l'équilibre, la saisonnalité, les circuits-courts, la réduction du gaspillage, et la valorisation du végétal. Les candidatures sont ouvertes jusqu'au 31 octobre, et la finale se déroulera en mars 2025 chez Rational en Alsace.

📲 Expedia's study reveals travelers visited 277 web pages before booking, a sevenfold increase since 2013. They spent 303 minutes, over 5 hours, searching and comparing across 45 days. Poor weather in June and inflation over the past two years, perceived by 75% of French consumers, impacted the summer 2024 season. Hotel prices rose by 16.2% compared to 2022. Traveler behaviors are swiftly changing, with 75% altering their consumption habits yearly, heavily influenced by internet use for trip planning. OTAs capture most of the preparatory time, while direct professional sites account for 31%. Key platforms for visibility include OTAs, Google's services, and one's own site.

🏖️ Socamp, a professional event in Seignosse, will occur from September 17 to 19, 2024, bringing together 60 suppliers from various sectors. This networking opportunity expects 400 professional visitors, offering a platform to present new products and engage with potential clients. Supported by two partner unions, Socamp promotes fruitful exchanges and promising collaborations within the HPA (Hospitality Professionals Association) of South-west.

📖 Autonomic Grand Ouest, a major event on disability and aging in France, will take place in Rennes on October 9-10, 2024. Free entry for professionals and the general public. The expo addresses solutions for autonomy loss due to any type of disability. More info: https://rennes.autonomic-expo.com/.

🍷 The 11th edition of the Salon des Outsiders, organized by Quarin's Guide, will take place at Paris's Pavillon Ledoyen from November 14-16, 2024. A grand dinner by Yannick Alléno and Jean-Marc Quarin on November 14 will feature pairings of French gastronomy with Bordeaux wines, including Château d’Yquem and Château Léoville Poyferré's 2009 vintage. Jean-Marc Quarin and Fabrice Léger have hosted the event for over a decade, showcasing exclusive Crus from Bordeaux and beyond.

🏕 Club Med, as of April 2024, boasts 100% Premium or Exclusive Collection Resorts. Business volume reached €1.15 billion, up 9% year-on-year, with operational results of Resorts at €139 million, marking an 11% increase from H1 2023. Mountain resorts contributed over 45% to the business volume, a 22% increase from H1 2023. EBITDA stood at €244 million. Resort capacity grew by 4%, with a 2% rise in customer numbers to 778,000. Room occupancy rates saw a 0.8 point boost to 70.4%. Reservations for H2 2024 showed a 5.7% increase compared to H2 2023 as of August 3, 2024.

📈 Media outlets annually produce end-of-season tourism reports that are often criticized for their lack of reliability and potential bias. Organizations and tourism promotion bodies provide subjective statistics and trend-based inquiries, which lack solid data on tourist numbers and spending. The French Ministry of Tourism and Atout France provide figures without transparent methodology. The INSEE offers the most reliable barometer for the hotel and camping sectors, but their findings are also declarative. Tourism trackers like Flux Vision Tourisme/Orange aim to geolocate tourists via smartphones, but this method has limitations and cannot fully quantify real visitor numbers. With approximately 3 million French living abroad, tracking international tourists is further complicated. Media and political entities sometimes rush to provide information, occasionally inventing data. The reliability of tourism reports varies based on the source, with biases ranging from optimism to self-interest. Despite these challenges, there is value in having an overview of the tourism sector, albeit imperfect. It is crucial for the tourism industry to operate on credible data.

💰 Employers with 11+ employees in certain sectors, including hospitality and dining, are subject to a bonus-malus system for unemployment insurance contributions since September 1, 2022. The standard reference rate is 4.05%, which can increase to a maximum of 5.05% or decrease to a minimum of 3%, based on the company's separation rate versus the median sector rate. Two cycles were initially planned: September 1, 2022, to August 31, 2023, and September 1, 2023, to August 31, 2024. However, the system has been extended until October 31, 2024. The median separation rate for the "hospitality and dining" sector is set at 69.81% for September 1, 2024, to October 31, 2024. Employers will be notified of their applicable rates between August 30 and September 6, 2024.