Didier Arino, managing director of the consulting firm Pro-tourisme, explains this Saturday morning on franceinfo that the occupancy rates for these spring holidays in lodges, campsites or even furnished rentals are “up very sharply compared to 2019”.
franceinfo: Are the occupancy rates good for these holidays?
Didier Arino : After a very good winter for tourism stakeholders, the good news continues for the spring holidays, which really kick off the great summer season with bookings that are up for almost all tourism stakeholders. It’s the start of the season for campsites, furnished rentals, with occupancy rates that are up very sharply compared to 2019. We have very good prospects for the coming weeks. Campsites are breaking booking records. This is particularly the case for campsites which are the most qualitative and allow you to practice activities, but also have a certain level of comfort. This is also the case for furnished rentals with Gîtes de France, which broke attendance records when they had already been on the rise for two years despite the Covid-19 crisis. The other good news is the return of foreign customers, and in particular to Paris, which was the last destination to progress and which is finding figures worthy of the pre-crisis period with, for the first time in April , occupancy rates and average revenue which are up compared to 2019, which had not been seen for two years.
So foreign customers are back?
Foreign tourists are back in France, mainly European tourists, with a very good progression of Dutch, Belgians and Germans. We also have a return of the British who were not very present due to the health crisis and Brexit, and a return of American customers, even if things have slowed down a bit with the war in Ukraine. Only distant Asian customers are missing. In China, there is a confinement. Of course, the Russians are not present. But as far as the domestic market is concerned, there is a very strong dynamism of the French who continue to go on vacation, even more than in previous years, and many of whom have chosen France.
Do purchasing power issues change the behavior of holidaymakers?
This changes the behavior of tourists with a tendency to choose proximity, a bit like during the Covid period, with French people who leave two or three hours from home, who are very careful and prefer plane or train tickets the cheapest. We talk a lot about the purchasing power crisis: in the tourism sector, we find this crisis in a really anecdotal way. There is an increase in reservations. There is also an increase in the most qualitative accommodation choices. The French, when they make sacrifices, they do so in positions other than holidays. Our fellow citizens have been confined, prevented from going on vacation for almost two years. They want to get back to a normal life. They want reunions, shared pleasure, going to festivals. They want to live normally. They also realize that this war in Ukraine that, all in all, they live rather well for the most part. Remember, 67% of our fellow citizens go on vacation. This means very concretely that there is a third who do not go on vacation.
Is there still an impact of the health crisis?
There is the Covid risk, and in particular the fear of a return of the pandemic. But the major risk for the tourism sector is the lack of staff, the difficulty in providing quality service. There is a shortage of 200,000 jobs in this sector. There are many professionals who are not concerned with the number of customers but with the staff to ensure a decent quality of service. Many restaurateurs plan to close one day a week during the tourist season. That is the problem of tourism players today, much more than inflation or the arrival of customers.