Les Orres chosen by the interministerial commission for tourism to rehabilitate leisure real estate in mountain resorts.

Les Orres has been selected by the French government as one of 10 mountain resorts and 3 coastal resorts where the government wishes to launch an experiment on the renovation of leisure real estate and the energy transition. Pierre VOLLAIRE, Mayor of Les Orres, attended the Tourism Steering Committee meeting at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday June 4, in the presence of Jean-Yves LE DRIAN, to organize the details of this operation.

Leisure accommodation: a national challenge

In France, almost a third of tourist beds are occupied for just three weeks a year (Atout France, 2014). Accommodation is a cornerstone of a resort's tourism offering. Keeping the real estate offer up to customer expectations is therefore a national issue, which the government wishes to tackle through a strategy of renovation of leisure real estate and energy transition for mountain and coastal resorts.

Les Orres: a committed resort

The commune of Les Orres has been directly involved in these issues for several years.

The resort's dynamism in this area had already been recognized by the Government, as the resort was selected for the AIDER (Appui Interministériel au Développement et à l'expertise en Espace Rural) mission in 2017.

©Les Orres

Photo caption: Pierre Vollaire, Mayor of Les Orres, in the presence of Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State to the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, and Christophe des Roseaux, Director of the Caisse des dépôts et consignations.

" We are convinced that the levers for rehabilitation go beyond the renovation of tourist accommodation. That's why we're studying a variety of solutions as part of an overall project to revitalize the region's activity, addressing the nature and quantity of beds, their upmarket positioning, marketing methods and associated services - all parameters of the performance of the real estate stock. "

Mayor of Les Orres Pierre Vollaire

Joint action with the government

Les Orres' objective is to stem the growth of cold beds, which is weighing heavily on the resort's economic model. To this end, it has carried out a number of diagnostic actions and is exploring the implementation of local actions aimed at property owners, as well as turnkey renovation operations.

In the same vein, deployment of this renovation program, supported by the interministerial commission for tourism, will begin in 13 pilot areas, including the Les Orres resort. It should lead to an investment plan for seaside and mountain resorts to renovate residences and encourage the necessary move upmarket. Les Orres has been selected alongside Villard-de-Lans, Les 2 Alpes, l'Alpe d'Huez, La Plagne and St-Gervais.

©Les Orres

About Les Orres

Located in the Hautes-Alpes department, Les Orres is one of France's major winter sports resorts. It is divided into two entities: the Centre Station (1650m), created in the early 1970s, whose remarkable architecture has led to its classification as a 20th-centuryheritage site; and Bois Méan (1800m), a Unité Touristique Nouvelle (new tourist unit) created in 2008 along the lines of a 4th-generation resort. In all, it has almost 15,900 beds.

Aware that an occupied bed is a guarantee of local economic spin-offs, the commune of Les Orres works to maintain a level of real estate supply that meets customer expectations. However, today, the leisure real estate sector escapes this desire for public intervention.

" In Les Orres, the Demessine law gave a second wind to tourism development, with the construction of 5,000 beds in tourist residences in 2008. Since then, the ORIL scheme has failed to produce the expected results, and we remain on the lookout for regulatory measures to stimulate the renovation of accommodation

Mayor of Les Orres Pierre Vollaire