France: France Tourism Profile
2015/03/11
Lacklustre performance for French travel and tourism
2013 is at initial sight a good year for French travel and tourism. Its numerous assets, such as varied landscapes and key tourist attractions, further attracted incoming tourists. The country remained the leading tourist destination worldwide, receiving 85 million inbound arrivals in 2013. Tourist spending, both incoming and domestic, played a major role in sustaining economic activity in France, contributing 7% to France’s total GDP. Nonetheless, the number of French people taking domestic trips waned, and fewer left the country in 2013 as well. Key categories such as car rental and travel accommodation almost levelled off, whilst sales of travel retailers even dropped in current price terms on 2012.
Discounters and alternative players shuffle the cards
One of the major events of 2013 is the on-going upsurge of low-cost concepts in air transportation and car rental and the double-digit development of new modes of transport and accommodation, such as the sharing scheme and informal rent. Low cost carriers presently form a prominent part of France’s travel and tourism landscape, not only under the impetus given by Ryanair and EasyJet, but as well the counter-attack from Air France with Hop! and Transavia. The domestic expansion of France’s low cost carriers has made air transportation increasingly competitive with France’s national rail service. Since the crisis of 2009, the niche of car sharing schemes and private car rental has taken off, which urges traditional car rental players to react by focusing on discounts and last minute deals. Online sales of private accommodation via players such as Abritel and Homelidays, or peer to peer websites such as Airbnb.com, as well scored a hit in 2013.
Foreign tourists can afford to be additional loyal than the French
During the initial half of 2013, the drop in the number of French who went off on holidays was such that the headline of a trade press’ article was “Where are the French?”. Due to the fragility of the local consumers’ confidence and purchasing power, a worrying number of French consumers sacrificed their holiday budget in order to keep up their favourite leisure completed times. Meanwhile, the number of trips and mainly the sales from inbound travellers forged ahead in 2013, thanks to the growing number of travellers from Germany, Italy and Belgium, and mainly the increasing proportion of inbound arrivals coming from nations with emerging economies, such as Brazil and China.
Online sales drive increase in revenues in travel and tourism
Travel and tourism by presently had a high rate of internet penetration in France prior to the advent of the economic downturn. This trend was further consolidated in 2013 as the recovery of the French economy failed to materialise as consumers and businesses alike continued to seek the best price for money. While offline sales were strongly influenced by the slow business environment, double-digit increase was recorded in online sales in numerous categories. A lot of industry heavyweights were increasingly moving their activities online, nonetheless, the majority dynamic operators in 2013 were pure players such as Priceline and Expedia.
Additional uncertainty estimate for travel and tourism
Opinions differ on the projected fortune of travel and tourism in the coming years. For some sources, the industry will rely on its traditional key assets to ensure the loyalty of incoming tourists from Europe and the US, and should further attract upper-middle classes from the BRIC nations. In addition, the development of airports other than in Paris should fuel traffic to the provinces. However, there are some disturbing facts, such as the growing cocooning attitude of the French. Traditionally, even in times of recession, French consumers put aside money for their annual holidays; nonetheless, this was not the case in 2013. Given the growing competitiveness and attractiveness of border destinations such as London, Berlin and Spain, the French tourism industry can no longer afford to rest on its laurels and has to focus notably on increasing the level of sales per trip.
Impact of the recession on travel and tourism
France is expected to maintain its leading position
New trends in consumer behaviour
A marked decrease in business travel
Travel retail industry reorganisation
- France News
-
- FRANCE: Aluminium-Lithium Alloys Fight Back
- AFGHANISTAN: UNWTO: International tourism – strongest half-year results since 2010
- IRAN: Peugeot-Citroen lifted by Iran sales
- ALBANIA: US LNG exports make European market more competitive
- FRANCE: France and Italy quarrel over shipyard and Libya
- FRANCE: Bastille Day Military Parade - Paris Macron shaking hands with Donald Trump's wife Melania
- Trending Articles
-
- SOUTH AFRICA: Nigeria and South Africa emerge from recession
- UZBEKISTAN: Former deputy PM named Uzbekistan Airways head
- BAHRAIN: Bahrain issues new rules to encourage fintech growth
- ARUBA: Director of Tourism Turks and Caicos after Irma: Tourism, visitors, hotels current status
- AUSTRALIA: Western Australia joins two-thirds of country to ban fracking
- ANGOLA: Angola: Elections / 2017 - Provisional Data Point Out Qualified Majority for MPLA