Promotion and marketing of the Serre-Ponçon port areas

In 2020, the S.M.A.DE.SE.P. noted that Serre-Ponçon, as a nautical destination, had every interest in improving its port management, particularly with regard to its "customer relations". In addition to the contractual provisions defined by the S.M.A.DE.SE.P. for the rental of its moorings, whether managed directly or through public service delegations (régies intéressées), it seemed useful to optimize the operation of the ports, in order to limit the need to create new moorings, and to professionalize the information systems, enabling boaters to better meet their rental obligations (tidal range management, boat safety, etc.).

In May 2020, a project to promote and market the harbor areas was submitted to the European Commission to benefit from LEADER funds: "Liaison Entre les Actions de Développement de l'Economie Rurale" (Linking Actions for the Development of the Rural Economy), is a European Union scheme that supports the development of rural areas as they implement their own development strategies. These strategies are defined at local level by a group of public and private partners.

With regard to the first objective, the acquisition of a port management software package to improve the clarity of the offer should lead to the optimization of the marketing and commercialization of any available berths. This perspective also echoes the changes made by the Syndicate Committee in 2018 to boatage contracts and port DSP contracts: the lowering of managers' remuneration on "seasonal" contracts and the corresponding increase in their remuneration on "infra-seasonal" contracts are designed to increase the availability of the offer for tourist customers (present on "short" contracts) and, above all, to optimize port occupancy at the beginning and end of the summer season, the periods least in demand. In this strategy, we are determined to boost the summer tourist economy, while at the same time ensuring that the seasons are staggered. The port management software, which could today be a valuable tool for the organizations delegated by the S.M.A.DE.SE.P., would also enable the syndicat mixte to benefit from general supervision, required to deliver information to the public on any site from the Capitainerie. To optimize conditions of use, the software tool will be automatically incremented for most of the information it manages (name and contact details of the user, characteristics of the boat, insurance and administrative documents required, period and place of harbor parking, etc.), based on information entered online by boaters as part of their (compulsory) harbor reservation request.

With regard to the second objective, the above-mentioned port software could automate the sending of certain very important information to reassure users with regard to their contractual obligations (mooring line adjustment, boat surveillance, etc.): alerts could thus be automatically sent, by e-mail or sms, on the available draught at the berth, on the change of berth assignment or even, in a more controlled manner by the manager, on any infringements of port regulations observed..

Finally, the introduction of a video surveillance system for port areas could be an essential asset in improving the service offered to customers. This proposal would make even more sense if the system were not limited to the (highly regulated) enhancement of public safety, but also concerned the free provision of information to boaters: in addition to the regulated recording of images filmed from the proposed 12 cameras (to which it would also be interesting to add the 6 existing cameras on fuel service stations), it would seem possible to allow free consultation of images from what could be likened to webcams, via dedicated applications. This system would enable harbor users (or even other customers) to freely consult all or part of these images, broadcast in real time from a computer or smartphone: the tool would thus remotely support boaters in their contractual obligations to monitor their craft. This seems particularly important on Lac de Serre-Ponçon, which, faced with summer tidal ranges (down to -5 meters at the end of the season), offers harbors that are particularly sensitive in terms of safety (exposure to gales) or public security (sometimes very isolated locations). Last but not least, this global system of "webcams" could encourage wider tourist communication, by generalizing the broadcasting of video images of nautical activities..