• The tourist season promises to be record in Marseille.

    The European clientele is up compared to the year 2019, which serves as a reference.

  • The Covid-19 crisis also seems to have some lasting effects on the geographical origin of visitors.

    We notice that the wealthy Russians and Chinese are missing.

  • In the Bouches-du-Rhône, Arles is one of the new popular destinations.

    If Aix-en-Provence is still popular, the absence of Russian and Chinese tourists is felt.

Marseille is heading towards a summer of all records.

Although some are doing well (hello the heat waves) and that others are in fact nothing exceptional (hello the instability at OM), the sun is shining like never before in the sky of the hoteliers.

“For the first time since the Covid-19 health crisis, hotel occupancy rates exceed those of 2019,” notes the tourist office.

And the outlook for the month of July is of the same caliber: “As of June 15, the reservation rate was 73% for the month of July, compared to 40% at the same time in 2019”, notes Nicolas Guyot, vice- president of the hotel union and owner of an establishment on the port.

The average length of nights in town is approaching two, a sign that visitors come to put their suitcases down in one of the 7,000 rooms of the 103 hotels in Marseille.

Slightly longer stays;

earlier reservations

The Covid-19 crisis also seems to have some lasting effects on the geographical origin of visitors.

“Usually, in June, we have 70% French customers.

This year it has fallen to 60%”, continues Nicolas Guyot.

With mainly an increase in visitors from neighboring European countries, "much more numerous than in other years", proof that Marseille is now one of the essential "city trips" (Germans, Spaniards, Italians and British in the top 4).

With the key, “a change in certain behavior”.

Slightly longer stays and earlier bookings.

"Planning is already a bit of travelling," our hotelier explains.

Still, a usually wealthy clientele is sorely lacking this year, although it has been visibly compensated by others: Russians and Chinese are missing.

"But the Russians only represented 0.6% of visitors in 2019", tempers the tourist office.

When wondering what our dear tourists do once the classic Vieux-Port – Bonne Mère – Calanques have been completed independently, the top 3 guided tours offered by the tourist office are surprising.

If the Panier district, of course, is included, the attractiveness of the Cité Radieuse and the Treille district (with a route in the footsteps of Marcel Pagnol), is surprising.



Elsewhere in the department, the tourist authorities observe "an explosion of Arles" following the investments made (the Luma tower, in particular) and the good resistance of Aix-en-Provence, the "top-of-the-range" city par excellence, which suffers more from the decline of wealthy Russians and Chinese.

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  • Company

  • Marseilles

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  • Tourism

  • Aix en Provence

  • Arles

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