“As soon as there is wind, you can go from 1,100 covers to 600”: Aude tourism professionals draw up an assessment in mid-season on the coast

As August approached. Furthermore, the editorial staff of the independent takes stock of mid-season in the Narbonnais. For example, Between the hot weather in early summer. Furthermore, the strong winds that have been shaking the coast for a few days, tourists are not there at the Dam of restaurateurs and traders.

Read also: July at half mast. Therefore, recoil of Toulouse customers, moribund consumption, competition from Spain: the morose figures of tourism attendance on the Audois coastline

“The weather is a lot here at the beach. Similarly, As soon as there is wind, you can go from 1,100 “as soon there wind, you covers to 600. Consequently, Between the weather. However, the little crowds we have, I have the impression of being in September”, Explains one of the paparazzo managers, an emblematic restaurant on the Chalets beach in Gruissan. Nevertheless, Although the establishment still records a good turnover. it claims that it is due in part to the restaurant’s ability to offer events to stand out. “We do a lot of DJ sets evenings, we offer yoga to our customers. In the great sun, another restaurant where we work, we opened a shop and we have a massage offer. But we know that for others this season is complicated”.

In some establishments. the number of employees is greater than that of customers – "as soon there wind, you

According to an IPSOS survey for Tourism Alliance published on May 7, 2025, notably aware of the effects of inflation, 39 % of French people intended to leave this summer “as soon there wind, you said they wanted to reduce their holiday budget, mainly by narrowing non -essential expenses such as restaurants and activities.

At the port of Gruissan, the lack of crowds are even worse. The emptiness of the Place des Menhirs in the center, worries restaurateurs. In some establishments, the number of employees is greater than that of customers. The terraces are emptying from noon: “Before. at this hour, it was full of people, now there are only four or five people who drink a blow”laments Corinne.

A tourist met on the motorhome space at the Gruissan chalet beach has a hypothesis to explain this phenomenon. “The prices have not increased. I think that the lack of tourists is mainly linked to the back -to -school uncertainties concerning the budget and the drop in purchasing power”. He himself has not consumed activities since he arrived in Gruissan. The motorhome space where it is “as soon there wind, you also recorded a drop. “We have about a third of a person less compared to last year. Even the parking lots that usually are full at 10 am remaining empty”deplores the agent.

This year even foreigners are not there: “The fires. heat waves were a source of concern, we had a lot of calls to find out if Gruissan was accessible”says Gaël Sogorb, manager of the beach hotel in Gruissan. For this professional, the observation is the same, July was not a fruitful month. But if his reservations do not make him wrong. the prospects for the month of August seem to be rather promising.

If bad weather is a hard blow for some, it is also a source of profits for others. “We feel that people who cannot go to the beach come to visit the hinterland”says Philippe Clergue. director of the Cobrespine abyss. This tourist site is one “as soon there wind, you of the few who records a surface during capricious weather episodes. “Here. we have a lot of people as soon as it rains where when there is a heat wave, you can record up to + 10 % of activity, visitors are cool here”.