Very present every summer in the Roya valley, the festivals carried by local associations or communities are also a great success with locals and tourists alike.
In Breil-sur-Roya, the “Des Voix et des Merveilles” festival, taken over this year by the municipality, seduces with its varied program. “We made the bet to offer a different show every Friday evening, so that it becomes a real meeting place given to the public all summer long, and it seems to work. For the time being, we have counted around 200 people at each event, i.e. an almost full marquee. The only paid show, that of Mado la Niçoise on August 25, is already sold out”, reveals Thierry Guido, the deputy delegate for local life.
In terms of culture and heritage, the Monastery of Saorge signs “a better season than last year with a return of foreigners and many families”, says one at the counter of the Franciscan convent. The “little sixtine of the Alpes-Maritimes”, the Notre Dame des Fontaines chapel in La Brigue, is also seeing a sharp increase in the number of visitors according to the Menton, Riviera & Merveilles tourist office.
At the Departmental Museum of Wonders, in Tende, there were 50% more visitors in June compared to last year, while the Vallauria mine exceeded the 1,000 visitor mark in two months for its very first opening to the public this summer.
Inflation penalizes paid leisure
Paid leisure activities, and in particular water sports, seem to be the big losers this summer. In Breil-sur-Roya, the company Mat & Eau, which offers whitewater activities, is currently suffering a loss “from 50 to 60% of its turnover compared to last summer”says Mathieu, the manager. “I’ve never had such a rotten season. It’s catastrophic “, loose the professional, annoyed. He puts this drop on the account of galloping inflation in France.
“The sinews of war is money. People are there but already, in Breil, they don’t stay because we don’t have any more campsites or accommodation available, and then they don’t spend. Casterino is full of people but the tree climbing only has 30 customers a day. On the coast, the beaches are crowded, the hikes here are also very popular, but businesses like us don’t make money. Or we only have at the last minute”describes Mathieu, whose clientele comes mainly from the coast.