A difficult tourist season even in the South

[PaulT]

We went out for lunch on Thursday and a British family came in to the restaurant - Mother, Father and two teenage girls. The cheapest midi menu was 18 euros - so that is 72 euros for them for lunch for one day.

Two years ago we drove to an all inclusive Spanish hotel. The food was excellent and once breakfast things were cleared away there were snacks until lunch and then snacks until dinner. Getting a drink was no problem. The cost for two for a week - £317. We were not expecting much but just booked something quickly having had our holiday in Tenerife cancelled due to the Icelandic volcano dust.

Perhaps the family above will go all inclusive in Spain next year.

Paul

[Quillan]

I mentioned Anothers comments about a bumper season down south to the lady in our local tourist office. She told me that there may be many Belgians, British etc but they are only passing through most of the time. Apparently, she said, the figures (bed count) are in from St Cyprian and it is reported that they are 70% down on last year. I won't see the figure till the AGM in October so I can't confirm this till then. Many CDH's are complaining about their bed tax which seems to have gone up quite a bit in recent years as have the number of staff in the local tourist office yet we don't seem to be benefiting very much.

[EuroTrash]

Word around the Ardeche is that the numbers are there but people aren't spending. So whereas the campsites have around the same level of occupancy as last year, takings in the bars, cafes, slot machines etc are around 20 per cent down on last year.