An increase in visitor overnight stays
Created by the Département de la Manche and a series of local authorities in 2012, the Société Publique Locale des Ports de la Manche is in charge of several of the département's marinas: Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, Barneville-Carteret, Granville, the beaching harbors of Port-Bail- sur-Mer and Barfleur, the heritage harbors of La Hague (Goury, Port Racine and Omonville-la Rogue), as well as Granville's commercial and fishing harbors and certain related infrastructures. The SPL offers 3,297 berths in its 8 ports, including more than 2,500 afloat on pontoons.
In 2023, the Ports de la Manche's yachting business saw its port call sales grow by 2.2% compared with 2022. This development conceals two trends: a 7.4% drop in the number of boats welcomed, to 5,850, offset by a significant rise in the number of visitor overnight stays. These will reach 21,415 visitor nights in 2023, compared with just 18,568 in 2022, representing growth of 15.33%. As a result, the average length of stopover in Granville and Barneville-Carteret will increase significantly in 2023.
Fewer foreign customers
Traditional customers for the department's ports, British and Anglo-Norman yachtsmen are still reluctant to return since the Brexit. Despite the SPL's communication efforts, only Granville is seeing a return of British-flagged boats, up +14%, while on average, they are down 12.5% for Brits, and 17.9% for Anglo-Normans.
Investment and equipment for the transition to 2024
The SPL also unveiled its investment plan for 2024. 5.8 M? will be invested in the various ports during the year. 1.5 M? will be spent on the dredger currently under construction, which will be used for all the ports, while Barneville Carteret will see the biggest investment of ?1,772,000.
In addition to infrastructure maintenance and the ongoing redevelopment of Barneville-Carteret and its new harbor master's office, we have earmarked funds for the ecological transition in various ports, including the acquisition of 3 electric RIBs for port staff, smart terminal systems and the purchase of pollution control equipment.
