As France’s 2nd largest tourist destination, Region Sud which includes Provence, Alpes and Cote d’Azur, is trying to combat over tourism with a new tech solution. The region partnered with Waze, the community based traffic and navigation app, to try and manage the flow of traffic during peak times to the region’s more popular sites.
Last summer a pilot program was introduced in four sites: Saint Julien beach and Blanc Martel trail in the Verdon region, the Ochre trail in Roussillon and the Provencal Colorado in the Luberon. Drivers received Waze ads to let them know of heavy traffic and received suggestions like a parking lot with free shuttle service to avoid sitting in traffic or even suggestions for less visited tourist sites nearby. The pilot program reached 325,000 drivers and resulted in 28,000 navigations to alternate solutions.
This summer the program has been expanded to 8 national or regional parks within the Region: the Calanques, Mercantour, Port-Cros, Alpilles, Prealpes d’Azur, Sainte-Baume and Verdon.
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