人口の１５倍が来島…「観光公害」対策で人数制限　仏

【レンヌＡＦＰ＝時事】フランス北西部ブルターニュ地域圏の沖合に浮かぶイルドブレア（ブレア島）。本土から船で約１０分で行ける島は人気の観光地となっているが、島民数の１５倍もの観光客が訪れていることから「オーバーツーリズム（観光公害）」対策として今夏、旅行客の受け入れを制限すると発表した。（写真は仏イルドブレア〈ブレア島〉）
　オリビエ・カレ村長は先週、７月１４日から８月２５日までの日帰り客の数を１日最大４７００人に制限する条例を出した。
　島の人口はわずか３７７人。しかし、調査会社リトマティックによると、年間の訪問者数は４５万人で、春から夏には多い時で１日最大６０００人近くが訪れる。
　カレ村長は、繁忙期にはごみの量が１０倍に増え、「地元では対処できない」と説明した。
　島は、絶滅危惧種の生息地を保護して生物多様性を促す欧州連合（ＥＵ）の保全ネットワーク「ナチュラ２０００」にも加わっているが、観光客が押し寄せて道が踏み荒らされ、保護区にも影響が出ている。さらに、混雑によって観光客の満足度自体も急激に低下しているとの調査結果もある。
　首都パリの観光局は、今年の観光客はパリだけで３７００万人を上回り、新型コロナウイルスの感染拡大前の水準までほぼ回復すると予想している。
　フランス観光連盟は今年、観光客の８０％が国内のわずか２０％の地域に集中していると指摘。旅行会社などに対し、観光客を分散させる方法として、知名度の低いスポットの紹介や、１日当たりの旅行客の受け入れ制限、チケットの予約販売、料金の値上げなどを推奨している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/06/21-17:12）

The small French island of Brehat, a popular north coast tourist destination, is restricting the number of visitors this summer after seeing as much as 15 times its population arrive at its rocky shores in a single day.
Off the coast of Brittany, Brehat is joining numerous other sites around France pushing back against overtourism amid concerns over waste management and environmental protection.
The number of day visitors, who access the island via a 10-minute boat ride from the mainland, would be limited to a maximum of 4,700 between July 14 and August 25, Mayor Olivier Carre said in a decree issued this week.
The island, home to just 377 permanent residents, is part of the EU conservation network Natura 2000 that aims to promote biodiversity by protecting habitats of the most vulnerable species.
The idyllic landscape is a hotspot for tourists, with as many as 450,000 people visiting the island in one year, according to a study by the firm Littomatique.
In the spring and summer, the number of visitors can peak to nearly 6,000 in a single day.
The commune is unable to handle the volume of waste that increases 10-fold during the peak tourism months, said the mayor's statement.
The influx is also eroding paths leading to the picturesque lighthouse on the island's north and impacting protected areas.
The crowds are also a drag for the tourists themselves, resulting in a rapid decline in visitor satisfaction, according to one study by Ponant Islands Association (AIP).
- 'Demarketing' -
The France Tourism Alliance noted earlier this year that 80 percent of tourists flock to just 20 percent of territory in the country.
The Paris tourism office projects upward of 37 million visitors to the capital alone this year, nearly matching pre-pandemic levels.
The first quarter of this year saw volumes near that of 2019, while spending exceeding 2019 figures, it announced Wednesday.
The France Tourism Alliance has recommended tourism operators promote less popular sites to disperse the crowds, along with the adoption of techniques such as daily quotas at sites, scheduled ticketing and higher tariffs.
Demarketing campaigns -- advertising images of overcrowded sites to make them seem less appealing -- were successfully adopted by seaside Marseille in 2021 and Corsica's Porto-Vecchio in 2022 to reduce the influx.
More recently, the Calanques national park near Marseille announced it would maintain a reservation system for visiting the Sugiton coves that was first implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic.
With travel at the time limited, the rocky trails along the crystalline Mediterranean water saw an influx of tourists to as many as 2,500 per day, trampling the lush vegetation.
The reservation system, which cost 100,000 euros to implement according to park director Gaelle Berthaud, ensures just 400 people can visit the site on a given day.
The national park on the Porquerolles island off France's southeast coast has for three summers limited daily visitors to 6,000 in a similar effort to protect the landscape.