Stéphane Burgatt
modified to
9:54 a.m., February 2, 2024
The poster is a dream for oval ball fans. This Friday evening, the XV of France faces Ireland for the opening match of the VI Nations Tournament. A sold-out meeting: the 65,000 Stade Vélodrome tickets were sold in just a few hours. As always, supporters of the XV de Trèfle will travel in large numbers to Marseille. There will be “at least 10,000”, according to the Irish tourist office.
A green tide in Marseille
With them, a guaranteed atmosphere, traders are already rubbing their hands. Particularly in the Old Port where things have been bustling since mid-week. The sweep of deliveries is incessant. Beer barrels pile up at the entrance to the bars. “There must be 6,000 liters of beer there,” says Anaïs, manager of the New Temple Bar pub. “The Irish are the best of the best in rugby. They were born for this. There are beautiful babies! They sing, it’s nice and above all it brings people when they are there”, rejoices -She.
Pubs are doubling their capacities with pop-up counters outside. They were right because the first Irish arrived three days before the match. The atmosphere is full of fun at the Shamrock counter for a group of Northern Irish fifty-somethings from Belfast and Londonderry. “We’re going to sing and down a few beers. The fun and the good atmosphere, that’s all there is to it,” laughs Mike. His neighbor intones Belle of Belfast CityThe tone is set.
“Delirious, set the mood”
This arrival of Irish supporters represents excellent news for hoteliers. “We are close to 85% occupancy rate, it is unexpected. Traditionally, the months of January and February are slow,” analyzes Marc Thépo, hotelier and administrator of the Marseille tourist office.
In turn, this good image of the Clover XV supporters also benefits the Irish tourist office headed by Monica MacLaverty: “They are our best ambassadors for tourism, that’s absolutely certain. They are the ones who give ideas to French people to come to Ireland. For us, France is our fourth market with 500,000 visitors each year.”
There is no reason why the result of this France/Ireland should change anything.