Tourism: Between budgetary decisions and weather, a contrasting summer season in France
In Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, hotels are seeing their occupancy rates increase this summer, and the number of seasonal rentals has increased (+2%) as has that of outdoor accommodation (camping, etc., +3%), according to the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regional Tourism Committee. The president of this organization, François de Canson, however, deplores a "lower number of visitors from major European clientele (Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy)" and "an economic, geopolitical, and also climatic context that is weighing on visitor numbers and, above all, on consumption."
He also notes "a greater demand for flexibility in dates and lengths of stays, requests for shorter stays" and "decisions on catering and activities." "At 7.50 euros for ice cream, it's a bit of a shock. But they're good and for the quality, I'm willing to pay," explains Christian Dauphin, sitting Wednesday afternoon on a bench facing the beach at Palavas-les-Flots, a popular seaside resort in Hérault, a stone's throw from Montpellier.
Cheap holidays, the new credo?"We made a compromise: we took a hotel five or six kilometers from here, next to the airport. I don't think we could afford a week here," adds this 47-year-old worker, who came from Auvergne with his teenage son. "The season has been quite strange, with ups and downs," notes Esteban Gonzalez, 21, "dining room manager" at Bain de Soleil, a private beach in Palavas-les-flots where "it started very slowly in July" before a resurgence of activity in August. Restaurant owners have paid the price for these budgetary decisions: according to estimates from the professional federation Umih, attendance has dropped by "25 to 30%" this summer.
According to its president, chef Thierry Marx, 25 restaurants are closing every day, with increasingly heavy costs that are therefore reflected in sales prices, and "slightly high menu prices," meaning that "foreigners have turned away a little from France," he indicated on TF1 last week. For Vanguélis Panayotis, from the tourism firm MKG Consulting, "the flows are more diffuse. Vacationers have chosen and perhaps gone to cheaper and less traditional destinations. Some destinations that didn't really benefit from the summer before are benefiting more today, such as rural areas and the mountains." This analysis is consistent with the summer results of the Pierre & Vacances group (tourist residences), with rising occupancy rates in the mountains and countryside, and a slight decrease in the average length of stay.
