‘Guests see the news and panic’: rental hosts in France urge tourists to return as fire risk ongoing

Owners of holiday rentals in areas of France impacted by wildfires are encouraging visitors not to cancel their trips unless completely necessary. 

In Gironde, tourism figures dropped after the recent wildfires burned 42,000 hectares of land in the region, making it the second largest recorded in France. 

At the same time, the threat of new fires is ongoing, with the promise of a historic fifth heatwave next week, coupled with powerful winds, keeping the wildfire risk high in several regions. 

“There has obviously been an impact [on tourism] in the worst affected areas, with very high cancellation rates… but overall, 74% of bookings were maintained in Gironde and 75% in the Landes,” Adam Oubuih, managing director of government tourism group Atout France, told Franceinfo on August 5. 

To help combat the negative economic impact of the wildfires, Alain Rousset, president of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine regional council, has announced the launch of a national and international communication campaign titled, Les vacances continuent (The holidays continue).

This comes after holiday operators criticised a statement made on July 26 by Gironde prefect, Sophie Brocas, “strongly urging” tourists not to come to the department until the fire was ‘fixé’ or contained.

With the Gironde fire now under control, local businesses and tourism rentals are calculating their financial losses and hoping that holidaymakers will return to the department to make the most of the summer season. 

‘Guests see the news and they panic’

Susan Hautefeuille, a Japanese-American born in Iowa (US), moved to France with her husband Daniel some 25 years ago. She is the membership coordinator of the Bordeaux Women’s Club and has also run an Airbnb for 13 years in Saint-Gervais, north of Bordeaux. 

“We have definitely been affected, that’s for sure. I did get cancellations, my bookings are down, and I have never had this much interaction from concerned guests,” said Ms Hautefeuille. 

“I even had someone who was en route, probably about four hours away from arriving, who texted me saying she had just heard the news and was turning her car around. I have a flexible cancellation policy on Airbnb and the guests could still be charged for a same-day cancellation, but in good conscience I couldn’t do that. I replied saying it wasn’t her fault and she got a refund,” she added.

Ms Hautefeuille is sympathetic to guests’ concerns; however, she stresses that many areas within Gironde have not been directly at risk and are still safe to visit. Traces of the fire in Saint-Gervais included smoke, depending on the way the winds blew, and soot rain. 

“A lot of people don’t really check their geography - they see the news and they panic, which is understandable. When you go on holiday you want to have a good time, you don’t want to be filled with anxiety. I try to reassure guests and explain that in terms of our immediate location, there are two rivers in the way and we are 50km north of the fires.

“As the wildfire conditions have improved, we encourage visitors to return to our area. We are ready to welcome you back! Especially after the stress of the fires, we are eager to support all our local businesses,” she said.

A similar sentiment is shared by residents and businesses in villages located close to the blaze. 

Claire Cazeilles-Laurent, a bed and breakfast host in Andernos-les-Bains, has noticed a significant impact on her work.

“My booking schedule was full, then I had cancellations not only during the period when we were evacuated but also beyond that, for a total of 20 nights,” she told The Connexion.

“I am also a wellness masseuse, and this activity has also been affected as local customers are slowly returning, but holidaymakers are not coming. However, it should be noted that even before the fire, tourism was not at its best. My turnover from my massage business was down 30% in July, and it will likely be much worse in August if visitors do not return,” she added. 

Ms Cazeilles-Laurent, who has lived in Gironde for almost 25 years, described a lingering smoke smell last weekend. 

“Now there is no smell, and the landscape around the basin is really well preserved except, unfortunately, at the entrance to Andernos you can see the burnt forest,” said Ms Cazeilles-Laurent. 

‘Our bookings are down 70%’ in the Var

Along France’s south coast, firefighters continue to tackle a wildfire in the Gros Bessillon massif (Var).

In the nearby village of Barjols, Canadian couple John and Christiane Francis rent out a loft apartment which doubles as an art or writing studio. 

“It had already been a bad season with tourists first wanting to avoid the heatwave, then the start of the fires,” said Mr Francis.

“We have to keep people who had reserved before the fires up to date on the fire situation which led to cancellations - our bookings are down 70%.

“The first week was scary. Ashes were falling on us like snow and the fire at that time was close to us. One couple left early because our iPhone alerts kept going off - they are very loud. At the moment everything is calm,” he added.

Mr Francis said that his next guests are expected to arrive on Friday, and he is keeping his “fingers crossed” that there will be no more cancellations. 

Further to the east of the department, Michigan-born Renee Wills is the owner of Villa OlivAzur - a property that she has started opening for rentals when away from France.

“We did experience one cancellation from guests who were concerned about the fires, even though our property in Montauroux was never at risk,” said Ms Wills.

“Since then we've continued to receive enquiries and bookings. None of our guests have mentioned any concerns about smoke or air quality during their stays. So, while the fires certainly caused concern, the impact has been limited rather than long-lasting.

“Like many beautiful places, southern France has natural risks that need to be respected, but from everything I've seen, the local authorities take wildfire prevention and response very seriously. That gives us confidence, and it certainly hasn't changed how we feel about the region,” she said. 

People who are planning to visit France this summer can go to feuxdeforet.fr to see live wildfire maps. Red logos indicate existing fires, orange ones show where fires have been reported, and black means recently extinguished fires.

France on high alert for new wildfires as temperatures rise

As businesses urge tourists to return, vigilance remains high over the threat of new fires, although most blazes are currently under control even if not all have been ‘contained’. 

Continued high temperatures and heatwave conditions in the south-east and rising temperatures in the south-west, coupled with powerful winds, keep the risk of new blazes in several areas high.

The passage of storms on Sunday may reduce the risk of fires in other areas of France by dousing vegetation and increasing humidity, however there are concerns of new fires before then and the south-east is unlikely to see storms pass through.

A fire in the Gros Bessillon area of the Var is not yet fixé (contained) but is largely under control, firefighters confirmed yesterday.

The current blaze in Gros Bessillon destroyed around 1,850 hectares, but this summer around 6,000 hectares of land in the area has been damaged by wildfires. Winemakers are concerned that the fire will have impacted grapes on the eve of harvesting season (that typically begins mid-August).

The department is one of three to be placed on the highest risk level for wildfires today, August 7, by state forecaster Météo France, alongside Bouches-du-Rhône and Vaucluse.

Restrictions are in place across all three departments, including closing off access to certain massifs and forested areas.

Check prefecture websites and social media pages for exact restrictions. 

A similar scenario is in place for the fire in Drôme, which is stable but not yet fixé. It has burned 240 hectares of land since the start of the week.

A sudden and violent fire in the Aude began yesterday, quickly burning around 100 hectares of land, however by the evening it was confirmed as being contained. 

You can see a map of live fires on the feuxdeforet.fr website.

Were communes in Gironde ‘sacrificed’ to save richer areas?

Tensions are rising in Gironde – the site of a megafire that destroyed 42,000 hectares of land in July – as some residents feel their homes were ‘abandoned’ by firefighters to divert resources to protect wealthier areas of the department.

Residents in Le Porge, where 183 of the 240 homes destroyed in the fire were located, claim that authorities ‘sacrificed’ the commune to better protect other areas. 

They argue that the fire was left to spread towards their homes so that better defences could be implemented to protect Lège-Cap-Ferret and Lacanau. These two communes are known for being among the most expensive coastal areas in France, and filled with homes for the ultra-rich and celebrities. 

“We never abandoned the commune,” said Gironde fire department chief Marc Vermeulen to Sud-Ouest. 

“Yes, there was movement toward Lacanau and Lège… But it was a movement of doctors, fuel trucks, medical support units, and so on. There was no diversion of firefighting resources.”

He believes the trail of support vehicles “may have caused some misunderstanding,” and clarified that over 90% of homes threatened by the fire were saved – and no civilian casualties were recorded despite the size of the blaze.

Residents of Le Porge, however, are set to file a legal complaint over the matter.