Clément Lesaffre, edited by Thibaud Le Meneec 07:31, August 28, 2021

At the time of the final preparations for the start of the school year, tourism professionals take stock of a second summer season marked by the Covid-19.

Many of them have been able to benefit, in turn, from the traffic restrictions imposed on other countries, even if certain sectors suffer from a loss of earnings.

DECRYPTION

August is coming to an end, with the return to school looming for millions of French people.

In short, the holidays are over.

And the time has now come to take stock for tourism professionals.

How was this second summer under Covid-19?

The Secretary of State for Tourism, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, believes that the season "has been saved".

But has summer really been good for everyone?

France, big winner of the summer

There are some positives.

First, 85% of French people who went on vacation stayed in France, ie 10 points more than normal.

"Nine million French people who usually go abroad have stayed in France this year", attests Stéphane Villain, deputy chairman of DNA Tourisme.

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On the Côte-d'Azur, in Occitanie and on the Atlantic coast, the summer season was almost normal, with no marked drop in attendance compared to "normal" years.

And the mountains are not to be outdone with an increase of 24% in the Pyrenees.

"The French are rediscovering a little what they have near their home and I think that it will benefit, in the years to come, to local holidays", wants to believe Stéphane Villain.

"People will perhaps look less at the brochures of countries abroad and rather stay in France."

A rich and (a little) more expensive vacation

The French also left for longer, two more days on average.

And during these holidays, they seem to have enjoyed their stays.

"In the interior of the country, countryside and mountains, there were a lot more activities than usual because there were often families with children and a certain number of activities were necessary for them", assures Jean-Pierre Mas, president of Travel Companies.

"It ranged from hiking to tree climbing, mountain biking, tree houses… In short, various nature activities."

The French therefore enjoyed themselves.

Among restaurateurs, for example, the overall amount of card payments was up all summer, by 10 to 20% depending on the week, compared to 2019. 

Two black dots

On the other hand, there are two black spots on the board. With the preference given to holidays in France, travel agencies deplore a 40% drop in their activity. And then, the opposite phenomenon, foreign tourists have come to France little and they are the ones who spend the most. American, Chinese, Russian and Emirati tourists were seriously lacking, especially in Paris.