Tourism professionals are convinced, the French have only one desire: to cross the country with the children in the back, to descend beers on the terrace and the Ardèche by canoe, to order a four-course menu every evening. We promise a “summer of revenge”, that is to say a maximum tourist consumption, on the model of the summer of 2020: the French, remaining within the borders, had compensated – except in the large cities – the absence of foreign tourists. So much for the optimistic hypothesis.
But for now, the 35 million French people who go on vacation tend to dream on search engines without taking out their bank card. Whatever the interlocutors, the level of reservations is similar to what it was in 2020 at the same time, and down by around 40% compared to 2019. The dynamic is, however, considered more favorable than last spring , with a rate of bookings accelerating in recent days.
Certainties are rare, here is one: as in 2020, the proportion of tourists crossing borders will be low. The health certificate from the European Commission, which should facilitate travel within the Twenty-Seven, will be ready, at best, in the second half of June, according to Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton.
And the words of Clément Beaune, the Secretary of State for European Affairs, hardly invite to book a stay in Greece: “We are doing everything so that travel first between French regions, then in Europe, I hope before the summer, and then more generally during the summer, can resume, but I can not give you today” hui a precise calendar “, he said on April 11 on RTL and LCI.
“The situation of last year, and worse”
“We are very, very low”, confirms Jean-Pierre Mas, president of the employers’ organization Les Entreprises du voyage. As of April 15, bookings for overseas vacations are down more than 80% from the same date in 2019 or 2020 – last year these trips were then largely canceled. “I think the French will leave but the current semi-confinement does not allow the decision to be triggered. They’re waiting, they don’t know how long it’s going to last. “ Google queries show an interest in vacationing in France this summer and in trips to Mediterranean destinations in the fall.
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