A cylinder filled at the club, a night in a hotel, a table by the quayside: behind every dive on the Côte Vermeille, a whole ecosystem of businesses is at work, supporting the local economy well beyond the summer months alone.
An ecosystem of businesses
Diving clubs and centres, schools, instructors, equipment suppliers, rental firms, accommodation providers and restaurateurs: around every diver revolves a chain of activity and jobs rooted in the region.
An out-of-season activity
Unlike swimming, diving can be enjoyed for much of the year. It is an asset for spreading visitor numbers and keeping local businesses alive outside the summer peaks.
A lever still under-used
Studies by the Pyrénées-Orientales Chamber of Commerce and Industry highlight the sector’s potential and the stays the activity generates. The organisers of MERveille are convinced: the diving audience is wider than you might imagine, and the Cerbère-Banyuls marine nature reserve, France’s first marine reserve created in 1974, is already well known to divers. What remains is to structure this momentum around a flagship event.
MERveille, a gathering for the industry
By bringing together clubs, equipment suppliers and institutions, the festival offers all these players a shared highlight, and serves as a reminder that their prosperity depends, first and foremost, on the health of the seabed.
The figures on the industry come from local studies; for precise and up-to-date data, please refer to the publications of the Pyrénées-Orientales Chamber of Commerce and Industry.