Saint-Tropez is a coastal town on the French Riviera that some are starting to predict could be the next Ibiza.
The town has all the ingredients such as sun, beaches and culture. The pandemic put a pause on global travel, and some up and coming destinations are now getting extra tourism, due to being open, while others have their nightlife industry still closed.
Places still have many restrictions on their nightclubs and Saint-Tropez is already able to run some parties, and this has given it a boost in clubbing tourism.
Maxime Drouard has been working at Shellona beach club which is located in the area, and he said: “this is the biggest season that I’ve had in recent years,” then continued “Culturally, Saint-Tropez is going through a very interesting moment because it has a musical offering that it never had in the past. It’s now positioning itself amongst the big places in the world.”
“Normally there are a few meetings throughout the year and DJ’s would go to Miami or Barcelona. Now they add Saint-Tropez to their calendar because we have a proper offering with the beach clubs and on these days you get four or five international DJs playing at the same time.”
He describes the increased tourism as a “big cultural evolution,” because the people there weren’t previously used to electronic music.
Saint-Tropez now has numerous venues and events focused towards electronic music, but Maxime Drouard was one of the first to bring big DJs to the town, and knew he is reaping the rewards, saying: “With other places like Ibiza and Mykonos closing, people came here that we didn’t have before. Now in our parties, we see some familiar faces and Saint-Tropez has been added to their travel planning.”
Although, he does admit that lots of the people coming to Saint-Tropez are from Paris or somewhere else in France, but that doesn’t detract from its international appeal.
When asked about the Health Pass system required for nightclub access, Maxime Drouard feels they are a positive thing, if it means clubs can remain open, saying: “We are now in the middle of a situation where some people want to be vaccinated and get that sanitary pass for their health and some others just don’t want it.” Then continued: “I don’t really agree, but here it’s one of the places in Europe where it’s the strictest. You can be asked for your sanitary pass when entering a bar, a terrace, you will be asked for it.”
The ever-changing restrictions do mean that events can be cancelled any time, but this season is going well for tourism and the local nightlife, as with places like Ibiza still being closed, its opened the door for Saint-Tropez to become a more popular holiday destination for electronic music fans looking for a taste of nightlife.
H/T: Euro News
