Skiers on a slope in the Alpe-d’Huez ski resort, December 13, 2021 (AFP / JEFF PACHOUD)
“The Christmas holidays have generally worked well”, finding “almost” the level of occupancy of 2019, according to the Minister Delegate in charge of Tourism and SMEs, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne.
“The Gîtes de France have 70% occupancy rate the first week of vacation, 85% the second week”, cited as an example the minister, interviewed Friday on Sud Radio.
For ski resorts, “even if British customers could not come, we are on results which are almost those of 2019”, assured Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne who estimates the occupancy rate 8% lower than that of 2019.
The ski resorts of the Pyrenees and the Massif Central “hit the mark”, according to him with occupancy rates of “plus 10%, plus 20%, plus 30%” while the resorts of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, which depend on more British customers, “were able to do less 10%, less 15%, less 20%,” he detailed.
The occupancy rate in the mountains for the two weeks of Christmas and New Year was 74%, according to a press release from Atout France.
Tourists in a ski shop in the Alpe-d’Huez ski resort, December 13, 2021 (AFP / JEFF PACHOUD)
On the return of international customers, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne noted “since last summer a return of Americans and Canadians”.
“International tourism has resumed, in October we made 80% more than in October 2020. It is true that in October 2020 we were still in complicated circumstances with the pandemic,” he said.
“In 2021 we will have more international tourists than in 2020 when we were in a range of 34 to 40 million. We hope to be in a range of 42 to 50 million,” said the minister.
Before the pandemic, international revenues were 90 billion euros. The minister estimates that in 2021, they will be “half”.
According to Atout France, “international revenues at the end of October of 28.6 billion euros are already higher than those of 2020”.
© 2022 AFP
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