Promoting tourism involves enhancing Montpellier Métropole’s image and making it as attractive as possible by bringing together public and private tourism stakeholders, as well as cultural and sporting organizations, associations, federations, and metropolitan residents.
Montpellier Métropole wanted to involve all the driving forces in its territory to draw up its Sustainable Tourism 2030 roadmap, which will be presented at the beginning of the summer.
This strategic roadmap is fully aligned with Cap 2030, the metropolitan economic development strategy. It takes into account the economic, social, and environmental impacts associated with tourism, both in terms of climate issues and the overall local context, while meeting the needs of tourists and local residents.
The Montpellier Métropole area is a major destination for tourists. We welcomed 5.44 million visitors in 2024. This represents 15 million overnight stays and 1.6 billion euros in economic activity. The tourism sector is a major economic driver in the area, accounting for nearly 12,000 jobs.
The stakes are therefore quite high. This is why the new roadmap is so important, clearly aiming to develop an attractive offering and enhance the image of the Montpellier area as a desirable destination. The roadmap also focuses on maintaining a balance between economic development and employment, and preserving the environment, resources, and biodiversity, as well as the quality of life for the local population.
“A city between land and sea”, “vibrant and authentic”, “young, dynamic, and festive”, “contemporary and rich in heritage”, “cultural, creative, and artistic”... These are some of the attributes that stood out at the Participatory Forum organized by Montpellier Métropole on November 28, 2024, bringing together 65 participants.
Two areas explored in depth during the participatory workshops held on January 28 and February 4, 2025, were: shaping a unique and experience-based offering with positive impact to ensure balanced traffic in terms of space and time, and making tourism a driving force behind the area’s attractiveness.
Just like at the Participatory Forum, proposals were plentiful, expressed by the 80 participants with diverse and highly complementary profiles. Proposals included creating new itineraries and coordinating cultural and sporting activities in the broadest sense as a way of offering unique and innovative experiences in cooperation with professionals and major events, and much more.
A third workshop brought together Montpellier Métropole teams to discuss economic development, jobs, and the area’s attractiveness. The intention is to make tourism a comprehensive economic sector in its own right, and to structure and promote it. Among the issues discussed were how to make tourism professions more desirable and how to create an observatory body that can take action and readjust strategy in real-time.
All these proposals seek to make the area a driving force for sustainable transitions.
We will provide an update on this work at the beginning of the summer!
