This summer, Waze will be used to avoid tourist influxes
In the PACA region, Waze will alert on the saturation of tourist sites. This summer, Waze will be the ally of many French people. The community guide app will of course be used to rej...
08/11/2021
In the PACA region, Waze will alert on the saturation of tourist sites.
This summer, Waze will be the ally of many French people. The community guide application will of course be used to reach the resorts, especially since the traffic jams could be even more numerous than usual due to the health context, which encourages the French to stay in France. .
But that's not all. In PACA, Waze will also be useful to avoid tourist sites where there are already crowds. For this, the region has joined forces with the application, an initiative presented as a world first. The device had been tested on a small scale last summer. After conclusive feedback, it will therefore be extended. it will thus be active for the national (Calanques, Ecrins, Mercantour, Port-Cros) and regional (Alpilles, Préalpes d'Azur, Sainte-Baume, Verdon) natural parks.
Loïc Chovelon, director general of the PACA regional tourism committee, explained to the microphone of Europe 1 that the region started from a simple observation: sites are quickly saturated, while others are neglected. The idea is therefore to encourage holidaymakers to join them, thanks to Waze.
When the driver enters a destination whose gauge is already exceeded, he will be offered another place to visit nearby. If the user does not want to change plans, Waze can offer them a slightly more distant car park where it will be easier to find a space, with a connection to the site via a shuttle. Loïc Chovelon ensures that the alternative route remains simple and acceptable. Improvements to the public transport network are also planned.
Last year, of the 325,000 drivers who were offered an alternative destination, 8% accepted it, which is a good result for Loïc Chovelon, who expects even better in 2021. He points out that " as soon as you go a little beyond the place where you wanted to go, if only 10-15 minutes on foot, you can find yourself all alone in a place as magical as the one that the we see in all the guides".