The year begins with good news for French ski resorts. During the Christmas holidays, they recorded an increase of 1.7 points in their attendance compared to last year, said Friday the National Observatory of Mountain Resorts (ONSM). For this holiday season, an average occupancy rate of 85.6% was recorded in the hexagonal stations, specified the ONSM in a press release, according to data compiled by the National Association of Mayors of the stations of mountain (ANMSM).
A figure to be credited to a particularly satisfactory New Year week, during which the number of visitors to accommodation in French resorts reached 92.5%, an increase of 6.2 points compared to the figures published in January 2019, says the ONSM. This upturn was spectacular in the Pyrenees resorts, which with an average occupancy of 86.6%, recorded an increase of six points compared to the previous year, for only 1.5 points of growth on the side of the Alps (85.6% occupancy).
Small stations are popular
The Christmas holidays, which end this weekend, also delivered encouraging figures in the Savoie resorts, where, according to preliminary estimates by the Savoie Mont-Blanc Observatory, "tourist traffic is growing by three points". Like the national trend, the observatory adds that in the department, New Year's week "could reach peaks this year, peaking at 96%, a jump of seven points in rental".
Stations with fewer than 5,000 beds are the main beneficiaries of this increase, since they record an average attendance rate of 90.5%, or 9.5 points of increase. It is less palpable on the side of those offering more beds: between 1.3 and 2.4 additional points "only" compared to the previous season. The rest of the season looks "encouraging", estimates the ANMSM, which evokes an overall increase in attendance of 0.5 point in January, where it will be "more marked" in low altitude stations (+3, 4 points), and 0.3 points in February.
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