Waze and the PACA region join forces to control tourist flows

Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, mapping applications like Waze or Google Maps have increased the number of new features linked to the virus. Google Maps shows, for example, the clusters of Covid-19 since September 2020 as well as the frequentation in public transport. For its part, Waze indicated all the food distribution places and the vaccination and testing centers around the world, namely a total of 100,000 additional locations.

In addition, the app has introduced a new feature called Live Map to Save App. The principle ? Organize your trip from home on your computer and transfer it to the mobile application. However, as our colleagues at the Siècle Digital site have learned, Waze has partnered with the PACA region to launch a new feature in anticipation of the influx of tourists during the summer period.

The principle is simple: relieve the most crowded tourist areas and offer users alternative routes or places to visit. In 2019, the PACA Regional Tourism Committee (CRT) approached Waze to “ respond to the problem of occasional high traffic in sensitive natural areas in recent months ”.

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Waze and the PACA Region reiterate the operation

During the summer of 2020, Waze and the regional institution therefore carried out a first experiment in places highly prized by tourists in PACA, such as Saint-Julien beach, the Blanc Martel trail in the Verdon, or the Colorado Provençal in the Luberon. A successful first attempt, which prompted the CRT to renew its confidence in Waze.

In a press release, the organization also recalls that this partnership consists of ” to use the power and the notoriety of Waze to inform the users of the application of the high punctual frequentation of the sought-after site and to direct them towards alternative solutions ”. During the first experiment, Waze thus proposed no less 28,000 alternative routes.

For the summer period 2021, the PACA region and Waze have added eight national and regional parks : the national parks of Calanques, Ecrins, Mercantour and Port-Cros, as well as the regional natural parks of Alpilles, Préalpes d’Azur, Sainte-Baume and Verdon. To know the real-time influx of these different tourist sites, Waze works hand in hand with the teams of these natural spaces, as well as with the company Ci Médias, a multi-support advertising agency based in Marseille.

Source: Digital Century