ith nearly 450 listed or registered historical monuments and around forty museums, the Lot department has a rich and varied cultural and heritage offer. In 2021, of the 49 sites surveyed by Lot Tourisme, the Lot tourism development agency, 1.2 million entries were recorded.
The Gouffre de Padirac, the most visited site in the Lot in 2021
In 2021, it was once again the Gouffre de Padirac that attracted the most visitors in the Lot, with no less than 350,000 people coming to discover this natural cavity. Then, it is the Valentré Bridge, in Cahors, which comes in second place, with 229,999 visitors recorded by the site's eco-counter. On the podium finally comes the railway from Haut-Quercy to Martel: 90,034 people bought a ticket to cross the Dordogne valley on board a steam train.
The other most visited sites are the animal arch of Gramat, with 74,300 entries, the Rocher des Aigles in Rocamadour, which attracted 71,266 visitors. The Pech Merle cave in Cabrerets, whose paintings were discovered just a century ago, welcomed 58,000 visitors. Next in the ranking is the Château de Bonaguil, a former 13th century fortified castle, which 48,905 people visited in Saint-Front-sur-Lémance, on the border between Lot-et-Garonne and Lot, followed by closely by the castle of Castelnau-Bretenoux, which recorded 36,300 admissions in 2021.
In the penultimate position of the top 10 is the Champollion museum in Figeac, which attracted 29,912 visitors in 2021, i.e. 26% more than in 2020. Finally, cruises from Saint-Cirq Lapopie, in Bouzies, embarked 27 000 sailors.
Mainly French visitors to the Lot in 2021
As in 2020, the French are in the majority: they account for 90% of visitors in 2021, of which 40% came from nearby regions, indicates Lot Tourisme.
"Although a significant proportion of service providers note a slight return of foreign customers compared to 2020, their proportion is still low (10%) compared to the trends observed before the advent of the pandemic context", can we read in the report. .
Lot tourist sites still affected by the health crisis in 2021
Lot Tourisme is delighted with an increase in the number of visitors to tourist sites in the department in 2021 compared to 2020, despite the fact that the level before the pandemic was not reached. Lot Tourisme notes an average visitor deficit of 22% compared to 2019, but "the results for 2021 nevertheless show a clear increase compared to 2020 (+24%)."
In 2021, "the spring confinement periods as well as the numerous restrictions on access to sites open to the public, reducing the operating periods of certain establishments by several months", did not make it possible to find a similar rate of visitors. to those before 2020.