• Given the geopolitical context, Russian tourists are not expected on the Côte d'Azur this year.

  • According to the Regional Tourism Committee, the Metropolitan Tourist Office and the Federation of Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism, this clientele does not represent a large share of the market “even if they spend a lot”.

  • These tourism professionals had above all adapted to their absence for two years, linked to the health crisis.

In 2019, they represented 7% of revenue on the Côte d'Azur for an average of 190,000 overnight stays per year, i.e. 4.5% of foreign overnight stays in total, according to figures from the Regional Committee of tourism (CRT).

If historically, Russian tourists favor Nice, in recent years they have also visited Cannes, Monaco and Antibes during these stays where "85% are leisure".

And even if this clientele represented less than 1% of air traffic, "this market was buoyant because it was mostly young people who had significant purchasing power, around 200 euros per day per person", specifies Alexandra Borchio Fontimp , President of the CRT.

She speaks in the past because for two years, "with the health crisis and the restrictions linked to the Sputnik vaccine, not recognized in Europe", the Russians have deserted the Côte d'Azur.

And with the war in Ukraine and European sanctions, the region risks being deprived of tourists from Eastern Europe for another year.

An estimated loss of 200 million this year

“It does not mean that we have abandoned this market, we had planned missions there.

There is a history with the Côte d'Azur.

And they have around 1,000 second homes, which means that there is a real attachment, ”explains Alexandra Borchio Fontimp.

The loss of this clientele is still estimated at “200 million euros” this year, for the CRT which “hoped for a rebound”.

Denis Zanon, director of the Metropolitan Tourist Office, evokes a lack of “95% compared to 2019” for this market and its “two years of absence”.

“We were already doing without the Russians but we thought it would resume this summer”.

This public, which generally stays for ten days, comes mainly between June and September.

The director of the office then observes “no significant changes in reservations”.

“Helping them rather than waiting for them”

The same goes for Eric Abihssira, hotel general manager and vice-president of the Nice Côte d'Azur hotel, catering and tourism federation.

“Russians are more like 4 or 5 star customers.

But just below, we welcomed Ukrainians, in particular thanks to the direct link with kyiv.

They usually book in May.

It is then that we can assess the impacts.

But we know that this summer there will be neither Russians nor Ukrainians.

Even if the war stops, there will be a country to rebuild.

»

Denis Zanon completes: “We would almost have preferred to stay in the health crisis, where we imagined an exit, rather than a war.

We do not know how long this will last and the long-term consequences, on ticket prices for example.

But the concern today is more to help them than to wait for them.

»

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  • Paca

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