Holidays: 86% of French people who plan to leave will do so in France - 20 Minutes

  • For weeks, tourism professionals have been in the anguish of a catastrophic season for France. However, some regions seem to be doing well.
  • The French, in search of large spaces, culture and activities, particularly seek the interior regions of France.
  • If Brittany is successful thanks to its mixture of countryside and coast, other departments are not left out such as Ardèche, Aveyron, Lozère, Jura or even Loiret.

“Canoeing in Ardèche was a traffic jam! "," Everyone is going to Brittany this summer! »Difficult not to have heard these sentences at the coffee machine or on the terrace. If tourism professionals were planning the apocalypse for this summer, some regions seem to be doing without too much damage and even doing better than in previous years. In the current crisis, they have succeeded in seducing tourists, French and foreign alike.

Tourism is doing badly, but not for everyone

“Tourism is going badly, of course, it's the economic situation. But all the rural areas are having a superb season. "Irritated by the deadly announcements read here and there about the world of tourism, Lesly Reynaud, director of the Provence Occitan tourism office, cracked a" rant "comment on the LinkedIn network:" I was tired of reading this when the summer is going very well with us. "And his observation is not limited to Occitan Provence, according to Lesly Reynaud, the French have responded to the appeal of the tourist sector:" The guest rooms and lodges are a hit, some campsites that were afraid before the season, are full , and activities fill up. "

Christophe Marchais, Deputy Director General of DNA Tourisme, the national federation of tourist offices, makes the same observation: “It is too early to take stock, but many regions are having success. The French looked for large spaces, less densely populated areas, and above all for “green” tourism. After weeks of confinement, outdoor activities are among the most sought after. As a result, Corrèze, Aveyron, Lozère or Dordogne have had very strong tourist activity since the start of summer. "And for some, more important than usual", underlines Christophe Marchais. The middle mountains are also doing very well, the Jura and the Vosges have been able to attract tourists with hiking and cycling or swimming in nature.

The stopover departments become destinations

The desire for the countryside was accompanied by a desire to reconnect with the territories according to these tourism professionals. “The French wanted to rediscover their country, which explains the great success of small tourist sites, castles and other places of culture, such as those in Loiret. A department that “works” very well this summer, ”said Didier Arino, deputy general manager of Protourisme. Axel de Beaumont, director of Orléans Val-de-Loire tourisme abounds: "The number of visitors to the tourist office has doubled compared to last year and we have sold over 140% of City passes, which allow everyone to visit. places in the region. "Axel de Beaumont illustrates this enthusiasm for French territories, as a stopover between Paris and the south of France, his department has become a real destination:" As you can see, downtimes on site are increasing. »Like other regions, the Loiret has what holidaymakers are looking for, a little seaside with the Loire, a little rural with the countryside, and a little heritage with the castles and crypts.

For Lesly Reynaud, the choice of the French this year is not an exception due only to the economic situation: “This is a trend that has been observed for several years. The current crisis has only exacerbated it. "

According to Didier Arino, another criterion leans the French towards these regions inland: the type of accommodation. The French have favored individual rentals such as houses, rather than hotels, which are more present in towns and seaside resorts.

For the Managing Director of Protourisme, one region in particular stands out, Brittany: “In July, the figures are excellent, in August, it is also very good. The region is a mixture of countryside for its center and coastline with very large beaches, where you are less crowded. He also cites the Arcachon basin and the Landes coast which have these same characteristics.

Foreigners did not shy away from France

If the French have chosen to stay in France, foreigners also participate in the success of these regions. In Ardèche, for example, it's hard not to see Dutch and German license plates. Christophe Marchais welcomes this: “Our neighbors from neighboring countries have come in large numbers, despite the context, and they are very fond of vacations in the great outdoors. »Already present for many years, the Belgians (the main foreign tourist clientele in France), the Dutch and the Germans are present this summer. And if the absence of North Americans and Chinese is felt, particularly by the length of their stay and their purchasing power, we cannot say that foreign tourists have shunned France.

There remain the cities and especially Paris, which mainly suffer from the total absence of event and business tourism which does not seem to be on the way again. In the meantime, tourism professionals hope that the off-season will be as good as the months of July and August, a nice compensation after very difficult months.

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