– You also become president of the Corsica Tourism Agency …
– This is my second delegation. Knowing that tourism is the first sector of activity on our island, I put all my energy into it. I had already worked quite a bit on the sector with my university colleagues, particularly on the issue of sustainable tourism. I think I have contributed to achieving a transfer of knowledge from the university to the world of tourism with the roadmap, which we voted in 2018, on the ecological and digital transition of Corsican tourism. Today, everyone is convinced of the need for tourism that respects our environment, our values, our identity and inclusive for the greatest number. Great progress has been made in five years, although there is still work to be done.
– Gilles Simeoni asks you to draw the outlines of the Riacquistu ecunumicu of Corsica. Is this another big challenge?
– Yes ! But you know, a researcher is, by definition, a creator. He thinks about the future, about progress, about a better future. I left the Riacquistu culturale in which I had bathed as a child to make, with others, proposals in economic, tourist and environmental terms. This program, designed for a generation, has obviously not been fully implemented. You don’t build a country in six years!
– The COVID crisis arises, and you step onto the economic front. How do you react ?
– I realized how much political responsibility we had. When we are faced with such a strong shock, the concern is, first of all, to preserve the well-being of the population in the face of the health crisis, but also to anticipate the economic recovery. I invested myself fully, for several months, on the issue of the recovery plan, particularly in the field of tourism where a plan was signed with the State on April 27. Here again, I realize that the work carried out with my university colleagues over the years has been useful to the Corsican economy. I am very grateful to them.
– What have you learned from these six years as a politician?
– To be more attentive to others. In scientific research, we often live in a bubble. In politics, you meet a lot of people, you are in great demand, you have to know how to be attentive to what others tell you. I’m more of the type to seek efficiency. It has been a strength, an asset especially during the Covid period, but I am still in a very tight time management. However, we must also take the time to listen. This is something that I learned during this tenure.
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