The French value their winter holidays! Despite low snow conditions in the mountains and inflation, the tourist balance of the winter season is very positive. The French are looking for holidays in the great outdoors, everywhere in France. A flagship winter destination, the ski resorts have attracted many holidaymakers since December. With an average occupancy rate of 70%, the Gites de France in particular greatly exceeded pre-health crisis levels, like last year.
“In 2022, compared to 2019 and depending on the departments, we are 20 or 30% more”, estimates Solange Escure, national director of the network, at the microphone of Europe 1. “The French have this need for nature, for discovery, and even rediscovery of holidays”, she adds.
An ever-increasing attraction to the sea
If the mountain still attracts as much, it is the same for the sea. This destination progresses in winter, notes Laurent Gicquel, commercial director at Maeva, a holiday booking site. “We are making figures today on the sea that we did not do at all two or three years ago. Whether it is Brittany, the south-east, the south-west or Normandy, we see a real success to go on vacation in February”, he explains to Europe 1.
For him, this is explained by “an economic aspect: the sea in winter costs less than skiing”. This can be seen in the prices displayed on the platform: the French can find accommodation from 500 euros per week for four people at the sea, once morest 1,500 euros for skiing.
