Sitting on his dry boat on the beach, with a breathtaking view of the famous needle that makes the reputation of his city, Quentin Maze believes that there is "a real concern with mass tourism", the situation becoming "worse and worse". "People arrive with their picnic, degrade the place, leave their waste," says the 35-year-old sailor, born in Etretat.
"When I was little, the pebbles used to go all the way to the top," he explains, pointing to the top of the beach. With their disappearance, "launching boats becomes complicated", especially since tourists do not respect the channel area. Even if he "makes war individually" on these behaviors, it is not enough.
Beyond his situation, the sailor explains that overtourism "takes up a lot of space" and makes it "impossible to live here in summer". "It's getting complicated to park and stay" with the proliferation of tourist accommodation, he explains in his Norman accent, so that people leave and "schools close".
"Ghost periods"
"In ten years, we have lost a third of our population," confirms Shaï Mallet, co-president of the association of inhabitants Etretat Demain, a "leak" caused by "nuisances", "the global rise in prices", in addition to "difficulties in housing".
The co-president explains that the 1,200 inhabitants see about 1.5 million tourists arrive each year, with peaks in summer at 10,000 people per day. With a clear acceleration since the pandemic, especially from international customers, even if this seaside resort has always been touristic.
The cause? The "big instagrammable potential of the cliffs", which generates a tourism of a few hours to take photos as well as the global success of the Netflix series released in 2021, "Lupin", gentleman burglar whose story is linked to Etretat.
A tourist takes a photo of the famous "hollow needle" of Etretat, June 11, 2023 © Lou BENOIST / AFP / Archives
But this influx does not generate such good economic benefits. Because 800,000 tourists "come only by the day, they "do not sleep on the spot", explains Ms. Mallet, and those who come only for two hours "eat an ice cream and leave", without necessarily going to the restaurant. Not to mention the "phantom periods" outside the peaks of overcrowding, during which all businesses struggle to maintain themselves.
Added to this are serious environmental problems: "such a mass of tourism leads to a phenomenon of trampling that creates precipitous erosions of the cliffs and puts the site in danger," laments Shaï Mallet.
-Quotas of visits?-
To limit this phenomenon, the town hall has installed since January a marked path and barbed wire that delimit the path, a device "welcome and eagerly awaited" by the inhabitants.
"It may also be necessary to balance trains, buses and parking reservations," said Yohann Rivas, a driver whose regional bus has just dropped off a slew of tourists picked up at the nearest station, because the city "becomes dirty, especially next to the beach and cliffs".
After successful attempts in this direction in the creeks of Marseille, the introduction of a gauge is also acclaimed by Étretat Demain, especially for parking, but the association advocates above all for a global information plan and reflection on tourist flows.
"1.5 million tourists is great, but we would like attendance to be spread over the year," says Shaï Mallet, who "is looking for solutions so that people stay longer, consume differently, perhaps with a more interesting average basket".
Walkers on the edge of the cliff of Etretat, Seine-Maritime, June 11, 2023 © Lou BENOIST / AFP / Archives
On Sunday, the government unveiled a major plan against overtourism, a "very positive" news according to Ms. Mallet. It welcomes "particularly" the establishment of a platform to collect data on flows, "priority" essential to fight against the phenomenon, and the "awareness campaign led by influencers", seeing it as "a communication strategy adapted to the challenges of our time".
© 2023 AFP