Dordogne Tourism facts 2007

November 21, 2007

Key facts and figures from 1 March 2007

Over 3.1 million tourists
Average length of stay (all accommodation): 10 days
Representing almost 31 million nights’ accommodation
A direct turnover of at least 980 million euros
Over 6,000 permanent jobs in tourism (6900 in July & Aug.)
Tourism in the Dordogne represents over 31% of the local economy

More facts and figures.

77% booked part of their vacation online. (airline, ferry, rental car etc)
93% of visitors researched the area online before visiting.
71 % of visitors booked accommodation online

5 years ago, these figures would have all been below 28%, and 10 years ago they would have all been below 3%, however, in 3 year time they will ALL be above 90%.

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3 New Routes! Bergerac, Beziers & Pau with Ryanair

November 15, 2007

Plus 50,000 Seats For £5 Including Taxes!

Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline, today (12th Oct) announced three new routes from Bristol to Bergerac (Dordogne), Beziers (Languedoc) and Pau (Pyrenees Atlantique).

Ryanair will launch its 20th European base in Bristol in just three weeks, and will deliver 1 million passengers on 20 low fare routes from the airport in the coming year.

Announcing the new routes, Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary said:

“Passengers in the South West have just three weeks to wait until Ryanair launches flights from Bristol.

Our record advance bookings confirm that passengers in Bristol can’t get enough of Ryanair’s guaranteed lowest fares and in response, we are now adding three new routes to Bergerac, Beziers and Pau starting in May 2008.”

To celebrate these three new routes, Ryanair are releasing 50,000 seats from Bristol for £5 including taxes and are urging passengers to log onto http://www.ryanair.com/ immediately, as this offer must end at midnight on Monday. Special fares are available on most Ryanair routes from Bristol International for travel between 5th November 2007 and 12th March 2008.

Route	Starts	Frequency
Bergerac	May 2008	3 x weekly
Beziers	May 2008	3 x weekly
Pau	May 2008	3 x weekly

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An increase for property owners in the Dordogne?

November 14, 2007

Renovation can be taxing

To complicate the issue, work to renovate a building will incur VAT (TVA), at 19.6% only if it affects more than 50% of the building stock.
Similarily, repairs to a wall will be taxed at 19.6% VAT if it affects the whole wall,but 5.5% if only half of the wall is being repaired!
Additional complication, second oeuvre work;floors,door frames, wall partitions,plumbing, electricity,heating and sanitation will only incur VAT at 19.6% if the overall work to the building requires more than two of these types of work.
The move has left both builders and property owners confused and disgruntled.
Such is the complexity of these policies that where there is a disagreemen, people are returning to the tax office for clarification and are finding that response takes for ever.

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Brive-Souillac airport to start test flights

November 14, 2007

By next year (2008) the new airport of Brive-Souillac is programmed to come into operation. Although originally conceived to service the town of Brive in the neighbouring département of the Corrèze, it is likely to be of use to all inhabitants of the Périgord Noir, due to its location at a point 25 kilometres from Terrasson and 40 kilometres from Sarlat. Market research has revealed that 5,700 second homes lie within 30 minutes’ drive, and that 53% of these belong to English owners. This number vastly exceeds those for the Corrèze (900) and the Lot (2,600) and reflects the greater popularity of the Dordogne for English buyers.

The new airport is to service flights to Paris, Lyon and London. It may therefore provide some competition to Bergerac, which has grown in importance. However, behind the apparent success of the older establishment is a degree of concern. Roumanières is currently running at an annual deficit of 600,000 euros, far in excess of the provisional estimate of 173,000. The difference appears to be accounted for by the removal of flights to Paris and by a shortfall in the anticipated number of international flights. The poor financial result has given rise to a dispute between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Dordogne (the CCI) and the mayor of Bergerac. The CCI is in charge of Roumanières, but complains of a lack of co-operation on the part of the local authority, which was allegedly to cover the cost of much needed new parking lots. The CCI is threatening to withdraw from the airport management, and hand it (together with the financial shortfall) back to the town of Bergerac.

The spectre of Bassillac

Lurking up the road is a reminder of what may lie ahead: the old airport of Bassillac, just outside Périgueux, formerly much used by Parisians escaping to their weekend properties in the Dordogne but now without any scheduled services. The local authority in Bergerac will have to face the challenge of investment if it wishes to retain Roumanières as an investment, particularly when faced with the challenge of Brive-Souillac just up the motorway.

Impact on property prices

One indirect effect of these airport shenanigans is the impact on property prices in the area. Weekending and telecommuting Brits are now used to the facilities at Bergerac: the fact that luggage emerges on a roller in a windy tent is accepted philosophically in the light of the convenience of cheap flights from the UK. Property prices within a 30 minute drive of Roumanières have shown healthy increases. Doubtless the same will happen if UK flights operate to Brive-Souillac. But investment in infrastructure is long term, and history shows that local authorities may pay more attention to local voters than to the owners of holiday homes

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Dordogne Info

November 8, 2007

Welcome to Dordogne Info, the one stop site about the Dordogne.
This site will be updated on a reguler basis, and the viewer will be kept up to date about things happening in and around the Dordogne, but we will also be posting useful information that will help both visitors, and locals.

TheDordogne.info is another “de Paulus” Project for promoting the Dordogne.

de Paulus has more than 30 web sites promoting the Dordogne. If you have a web site or buisness in the Dordogne, and you would like to get it high on the search engines contact de Paulus and see what he can do for you.

www.depaulus.com

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