“The Spaniards came back this year, there were a lot fewer before, underlines…
“The Spaniards came back this year, there were a lot fewer before, underlines the manager of the Le Regalty brewery, which has been located in the city center for fifteen years. I have a 20% increase in my attendance compared to previous years. There were also English. We have to see what it will give to the start of the school year in September. It will be another clientele with retirees. We can hope to have people until October-November. “But to listen to him, nothing comparable to fifteen years ago “As soon as we opened the door in the morning, there were people. Same in the afternoon. »
Traders will not say otherwise, the sun has helped the success of the season. We had not experienced such a summer in Béarn for years. “As of the spring, we felt that it had started again, confirms David Pouquerou, manager for 7 years of the restaurant L’Endroit, place du Foirail. The beginning of the year was complicated with the restrictions, and then activity was sustained from April. We saw a lot of Germans, Spaniards. The configuration of Orthez means that you are not far from the mountains and the sea at the same time. For families, it is the ideal place to stop for a meal before hitting the road again. And then we did some work on our patio, I think that helped. »
“We were overwhelmed”
Same story for the restaurant Les Pietons near the Saint-Pierre church. “We worked well with a lot of tourists, English people we hadn’t seen before, and people passing through, says Karine Tauzia, co-manager of the establishment. We saw a lot of French customers who wanted to wander inland. Everyone agrees that most consumers have nevertheless, in this inflationary period, paid attention to the wallet. “The average basket was higher in July than in August, but this is often the case. »
“It’s off again since the music festival in June, as if nothing had happened, confirms Jean-Pierre Dominguez, manager of the restaurant La Casa place du Foirail. People have consumed well because we have not changed our prices. With the cost of raw materials having increased by more than 30%, we will have no choice, we will have to increase our prices at the start of the year. We’ll see how it reacts. »
The resumption of marriages
The two managers of the Bordagame gaming bar-restaurant, which opened in February 2022, have not been idle either. “We were overwhelmed, enthuse Florent Fabre and Sarah Israel. Every night we were full. We had an average of 45 seats, which is huge for a game bar. We had a lot of Dutch people, we didn’t expect that at all. Normally for us, summer is the off season. I think the sun helped us a lot. To see if it will continue, and if we had more tourists or Orthéziens. »
Owner and manager of the Hotel Labat, located in the city center, Claude Bernard does not sulk his pleasure either. “Our fifteen rooms were full every night, we had to turn people away. There, it’s a bit thinner. We lost a lot of money with the covid. This year, we are back in balance. We had French and foreign tourists, and many people who came for weddings. They were often families who spent a night in Orthez to visit before leaving. Afterwards, we felt that the purchasing power was less important: we had fewer breakfasts taken than in previous years. »