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Official website of the French Government
Tourist Office |
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Hervé Novelli presents preliminary tourism activity report for July and August 2009
·Overnight stays rose by 1% compared to 2008
·French travelers save the season
·High income foreign clientele still strong
Hervé Novelli, Secretary of State for Commerce, Artisanal industry, Small and Mid-sized Business and Tourism, presented the first report of the 2009 tourist summer season. Despite predictions, overnight stays rose by 1%, mainly due to a French clientele who traveled in France this year.
Preliminary reports show an increase in July and August compared to 2008
The joint analysis of INSEE provisional results for hotels and campsites and ATOUT FRANCE/TNS SOFRES shows that the number of overnight stays in July and August rose by 1% compared to 2008. July stays increased by 3.6% and in August there was a slight drop of 1.2%. French and foreign clientele patterns were very different: –14.5% in July/August for foreign tourists from the five largest European markets (–21.2% in July) and +6.3% in July/August for French travelers (+13.8% in July).
The French clientele favored more moderately-priced accommodations such as campsites, family vacation villages and furnished residences. Conversely and in respect to these same accommodations, foreign travelers, who were more affected by the economic crisis, presumably gave priority to vacationing within their own country.
Camping on the rise
According to the INSEE study, camping should show an increase of 1.2% (+4.8% for French clientele, –6.9% for foreigners). In July, camping stays should reflect a 1.8% increase (+8.2% for French customers, –9.2% for the five major European markets compared to 2008), and +0.7% in August (+2.3% for French clientele and -4% for foreigners)
Hotels stays decline
Hotel stays for July/August should show a decrease of 2.6% (–1.3% for French clientele and –6.2% for foreigners). In July 2009, stays were down by 2.1% compared to July 2008 (French clientele, +0.6%, and –8% for the five major European markets). As for projected hotel stays, according to ATOUT FRANCE/TNS SOFRES, it corresponds to a global fall of 3.1% compared to August 2008 (–2.5% for French clientel and –4.6% for foreigners).
These estimates correspond to those of the departmental and local tourist offices.
Other types of accommodations see an increase
Stays in family vacation villages and tourism residences in July/August should show an increase by +2.2% (+8.0% for French clientele, –25.1% for foreigners). Stays should reflect an increase of 10.6% in July (+22% for French clientele and -43.7% for foreigners) and a decrease of –5% in August (–9.6% for foreign markets and -4% for French customers). Individual rentals (mostly cottages, hostels and furnished residences) should be rising by +3.0% for July/August (+12.9% for French clientele and –38.1% for foreigners). A 7.6% increase is expected in July (+27.6% for French customers and –52.6% for foreigners). For August, the decline is global by 1.1% (+1.4% for French customers and –15.9% for foreigners).
The final report should show improved results
One can think that in the context of a crisis, occupancy projections, reported by ATOUT FRANCE/TNS SOFRES and on which the above estimates are based, especially for August, the busiest month, are more cautious, in particular for family vacation villages and tourism residences (wait-and-see attitude and last-minute decisions). This allows to expect real improvements for the whole season, better than indicated above.
The Credoc study on French consumer behavior concerning their vacations during a crisis, which was requested by the Secretary of State for Tourism, points out that despite the economic climate in 2009, the French still took their vacations. The percentage of those questioned in June and who claimed to have taken a vacation in the last 12 months slightly increased, going from 52% in June 2008 to 54% in June 2009. Moreover, this upward trend seems to be stable, since 56% of the population claims they will travel in the next six months, which is 2% higher than last year at the same time. However, even though as many or even more French will travel, their vacation budgets will likely decrease. As a matter of fact, the vacation budget is one of the primary cut backs for those who want reduced expenses. This concern for saving money could paradoxically favor tourism in France, since travel in France would be favored over foreign travel (39% of people leaving), along with off-season travel (33%), which spreads tourism throughout the year. These adjustments are paradoxically likely to reduce the effect of the crisis in France.
Hervé Novelli is proud of the strength of the French economic model for tourism, which allows France to better resist the crisis than its European neighbors. The increase of this summer’s activity also shows the efficiency of France’s tourism development policy. The new law for development and modernization of tourism services that includes the addition of a fifth star to the hotel classification system (already awarded to 26 hotels with 45 other hotels in 18 departments have applied for it), the expansion of the vacation voucher program for lower income workers, the regulatory reform concerning the sale of travel products, etc. will help travel professionals to adapt their products to consumer expectations so that France will remain the number one tourism destination of the world. |
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