OT Grand Roissy was at UTD 2022

On October 6 and 7, the Universities of Sustainable Tourism 2022 were held in Montpellier. As for several years, the Grand Roissy Tourist Office was present to attend these days punctuated by conferences, workshops and eductours. A look back at these two days of sustainable tourism!

Thursday 6 October: UTD conferences and workshops

The first day was punctuated by conferences and two workshops to present sustainable tourism in different aspects. Thus, the morning was devoted to the presentation of a documentary "Breaks: young people facing the ecological emergency", presenting 6 students who have made the choice to turn to a way of life moving towards sustainable development practices, against the current of their school curriculum.

Then, the issues of ecological transformation were approached from the point of view of neuroscience in order to understand the mechanisms acting on the choices of humans in their practices. Finally, the morning ended with a round table on the courage to face the paradoxes of tourism.

In the afternoon, we had the opportunity to follow a workshop:

• Involve my network of socio-professionals in the destination : in the form of a game, the participants were able to discuss their ideal vision of sustainable tourism in their destination while proposing actions, concrete tools to put in place in order to involve socio-professionals more in the actions. (cellphones prohibited!)

We then followed the debate:

• Can mass tourism be responsible? Commercial accommodation and hotel professionals were able to discuss the actions carried out internally and the future actions to be implemented in order to raise awareness among as many people as possible in a fun way or "to raise awareness".

Finally, we ended our day by following the round table:

• The environmental impact of digital in tourism. Our speakers were able to discuss the preponderant place played by the Internet and social networks in our acts of purchase and tourist practices. The latter have, among other things, provided solutions and tools to limit the digital pollution induced by tourism.

Friday, October 7: eductour at the Grand Site Salagou – Cirque de Mourèze

Friday was devoted to eductours in order to discover Montpellier and its surroundings. The Grand Roissy Tourist Office has therefore decided to follow the eductour “Martian and lunar landscapes of the Grand Site of Salagou and Cirque de Mourèze”. Thus, the day was animated by several interventions from people officiating at the Tourist Office, manager of the Grand Site, water management, a geologist... who spoke to us about the sustainable tourism practices implemented within of this exceptional place.

We first went to discover the Cirque de Mourèze and its lunar landscapes before arriving on Mars near the lake of Salagou and its red plains as far as the eye can see. Then, we had lunch at Mas de Riri to enjoy a delicious vegetarian meal with fresh and local products. Finally, we went to the village of Celles, deserted because it was semi-flooded since the installation of the artificial lake in 1969, which is now being rehabilitated with numerous projects under development. A superb discovery before heading back to Paris!

See you next year in Aix-les-Bains for the 2023 edition!