Campsites, hotels, furnished rentals, trains… Summer tourism in France returns to its pre-pandemic level, despite the fires and inflation. “We are almost identical to 2019”, explains Didier Arino, general manager of the Protourisme cabinet. He estimates that, overall, the number of overnight stays in hotels has increased by 2% compared to before the pandemic, while turnover has increased by 17%. The trend is also on the rise for campsites or furnished rentals, according to him.
The summer was a “very good season”, confirms Solange Escure, national director of Gîtes de France. Occupancy rates have steadily increased to 86% in August (+6 points compared to 2019). “Between July 23 and August 20, the rates were even 100%,” she adds.
“We are on the right track to make 2022 better than 2019”, which was already a record year, rejoices Nicolas Dayot, president of the national federation of open-air hotels (FNHPA). The FNHPA expects to reach 130 million overnight stays for all of 2022, one million more than in 2019.
23 million passengers on TGV and intercity trains
“It’s a great summer, a record summer,” said SNCF Voyageurs CEO Christophe Fanichet. The company will have transported 23 million passengers in July and August on TGV and Intercités in France. With the international ones (Thalys, Eurostar, links to Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain), the world figure rises to 28 million. “It makes 10% more travelers overall compared to summer 2019,” according to him.
Paris has benefited from the return of foreigners, especially Americans. The Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates that 9.9 million tourists visited the capital from the beginning of June to the end of August (-3.5% compared to 2019).
Coastal destinations remain the most popular
But the favorite destination is still the coast, “especially the Mediterranean coast, but we also have very good performances in Normandy and on the Atlantic coast -except for the part affected by the fires”, according to Didier Arino.
Hotels in the PACA region have almost recovered their occupancy rate from 2019 despite prices rising more than 30%, as has Normandy where the price increase is less strong, between 10 and 15%, according to the company MKG Consulting.
The coast, “which in a normal year represents 50% attendance”, “is a hit”, according to the president of the FNHPA. “The first two weeks of July, being less expensive, were well filled and the month of August, which usually represents 38% of the total activity”, he advanced, he adds, taking the example of Brittany, where 77% of the campsites claim to “have better than in 2019”.
Abandoned Rural Destinations
“It was more complicated for the mountains and certain rural destinations such as the Dordogne”, stressed Didier Arino. Inland territories “such as the Gers or the Dordogne”, rediscovered during Covid by the French who used to travel abroad, have not found the “same dynamic”, confirms Nicolas Dayot, “we feel that this summer these tourists have gone to the Foreign”.
Jean-Pierre Mas, president of Entreprises du Voyage, observes compared to 2019 “a slight drop in the number of departures in July-August of around 5%, but an increase in budgets of 23%” for stays “prolonged in average in almost a day”.
Those who stayed in France also enjoyed themselves as the leisure parks were full this summer. With 750,000 to 800,000 visitors in July-August, Parc Astérix saw 20% growth compared to 2019, said François Fassier, director of parks at Compagnie des Alpes. The progression is very similar for Futuroscope, according to him, and the smaller structures of the group such as the Walibi park or the Grévin museum have also progressed compared to 2019. Disneyland Paris does not communicate figures but claims to have had “a very positive dynamic”. ” this summer.
Source: BFM TV
