Geoffrey Branger 12:03pm, April 08, 2023

The tourist season begins slowly in France, on the occasion of the spring break. According to a study by the site Particulier à Particulier, bookings for the Easter holidays are down by about 10%. Social movements, inflation... Difficult for the French to project themselves ahead of their holidays in recent weeks.

It's the big start! Since this Friday evening, the holidays of zone A have officially begun. And if the French intend to take advantage of the Easter weekend, in fact, the booking figures are not up to expectations, according to a study by the site Particulier à Particulier.

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Worse, the tourism sector is down about 10% compared to 2022. Because with the context of mobilization against the pension reform and the strikes of recent months, many French people have not taken the risk of booking holidays.

Many social movements

"There has been an organizational problem that is concomitant with the scale of social movements," explains to the microphone of Europe 1 the president of Particular to Particular, Corinne Jolly. "As soon as we see that social movements are taking hold over time, that clearly, train ticket reservations become very uncertain, it is very complicated to organize holidays in this context. And that's when we see that booking requests are declining," she continues.

To this must be added the difficulty in some regions of not being able to fill up. Many gas stations have supply problems. And inflation, which has permanently eroded part of the purchasing power of the French, limits a little more the possibility of booking a small stay during the Easter holidays.

Regions are doing well

"Usually, I went to the mountains at this time of year, but now, it's not possible," explains Frédérique. "The cost of living is so monstrous now that it's no longer an option."

If the sector seems gloomy, in detail, some regions are doing well, such as Brittany, the big winner of these spring holidays. "This is also the case of the Vendée and Normandy, since the entire northern area of the France can access these regions by car," notes Corinne Jolly.

On the losing side, the Côte d'Azur and the South Atlantic coast recorded declines in bookings of up to 20%. A season that starts with difficulty for these areas that depend a lot on tourism.