The 2022 summer season, which will be without health restrictions, promises to be very favorable… A prospect which the Occitanie region intends to take advantage of, it whose tourism is the 2nd regional economy (after agri-food), with 15.9 billion euros in turnover (10% of GDP) and around 100,000 jobs smoothed over the year (up to 134,000 in August).
According to a study by ADN Tourisme, the national federation of institutional tourism bodies, 78% of French people will favor French destinations, 67% will look for less frequented areas and 56% for destinations closer to their department or region. So even if 68% announce that their budget will be reduced taking into account inflation, the 2022 summer season should be a good year for French tourist spots, especially for Occitania, which readily reminds us that it is the first French region. for French tourist numbers or even the leading French region for the number of overnight stays in open-air hotels (notably thanks to the coast, i.e. 26.3 million overnight stays per year).
“Holidays remain a priority”
« 71% of French people plan to go sightseeing this summer, which is exceptional! We feel a desire to break with the two anxiety-provoking years suffered, underlines Jean Pinard, director of the Regional Committee of Tourism and Leisure of Occitanie (CRTL) Occitanie. We feared the rise in fuel prices in particular, but in the end it had no significant impact for the Easter holidays, a sign that the holidays remain a priority. And that can work in favor of Occitania with a regional clientele who may prefer to stay in their region rather than go to Spain for example. »
While 56% of French people had answered ADN Tourisme that they would book later, this is not what Occitanie tourism professionals have observed, quite the contrary…
“Although last-minute bookings are still relevant, we also note this year that a section of the population, fearing being scalded and having to settle for a second choice, prefers to anticipate and book much more in advance. upstream than in previous yearsconfirms Jean Pinard. Like the summer of 2021, and just as significantly, if not even more spectacularly, the big winners of the summer of 2022 in Occitania will probably be independent rental accommodation and outdoor accommodation. »
Booking levels for these two types of accommodation are thus higher than in the three previous years at the same date, including during the pre-crisis reference summer season (2019).
Gîtes de France: occupancy rate of 90 to 100%
Philippe Robert, shareholder and operator of the Méditerranée-Plage campsite in Vias-Plages (Hérault) and president of the Regional Federation of Open Air Hotels (FRHPA) in Occitanie, rubs his hands: ” The 2022 season is shaping up pretty well! We should be over 2021 and certainly 2019 which is the last best year. The reservation rate is impressive, with strong increases of + 10 to + 15% over periods when last year, we were fully booked. It seems that tourists are booking earlier but that doesn’t mean we’ll end up with + 10 or + 15% activity… Reservations tend to be concentrated on the coast”.
Stéphanie Nedelec is the director of the booking center for lodgings on the Languedoc coast for the Gîtes de France network, a cooperative which markets the 2,100 lodgings in the departments of Hérault, Aude, Pyrénées-Orientales and Tarn.
“Gîtes de France remain a sought-after product, she recalls. The outlook for 2022 is similar to 2018, our record year, with an occupancy rate of 90 to 100% in the busiest weeks of the summer, i.e. the last of July and the first two of August, thanks to reservations that were made very early, from the end of 2021, even if there is still availability. In 2020 in particular, the hinterland had attracted more, but we now observe that the top sellers remain on the coast, confirming the tropism of the sea. Reservations are made for average stays of one to two weeks summer… Fixed charges increase but owners are encouraged to apply only contained increases. »
What the Gîtes de France network has also observed, in the south of the country, is an increase in the number of new gîtes: in 2021 alone, Stéphanie Nedelec announces 110 in Aude or 103 in Hérault .
The boom in second homes and holiday villages
Other success story announced summer: second homes (40% are concentrated on the coast of Hérault and Pyrénées-Orientales) and holiday villages, « acclaimed since the Covid crisis for their guarantees of health security », recalls the CRTL Occitanie.
« Second homes are what worked the most during the health crisis and this should continue, says Jean Pinard. As for the holiday villages, these are the ones that have suffered the most so the catch-up will be obvious. »
Occitania is the leading French region in terms of the number of second homes (500,000). According to the list of five regions where the French want to set up their second home established by Pretto, an online mortgage specialist, on May 31, Occitanie comes in 2nd position (13% of searches) behind PACA, Hérault, the Gard and the Pyrénées-Orientales make up the top 3 of the most sought-after departments in the region.
At the family tourist operator VVF (whose holiday residences are all properties of public property belonging to local authorities or works councils), the reception capacities in Occitania are 63,000 holidaymakers in 15 sites. On June 7, the organization announced a reservation rate exceeding 80% over one or more weeks in four of them, some of which were even full at certain times: Sigean (Aude), Brusque (Aveyron), Le Barcarès Les Portes Roussillon (Pyrénées-Orientales) and Martel-Gluges (Lot).
The sea remains the preferred destination for VVF customers, but the countryside and the mountains confirm their rise in so-called “local” stays. This year, the organization notes ” a very strong attractiveness of off-shore territories “and evokes vacationers” looking for a holiday in the sun in the south of France, but a holiday away from the crowds ».
« We note, despite everything, a reduction in the duration of holidays and a fall in the average basket “, indicates Stéphane Le Bihan, general manager of VVF.
“Enormous” rental performance on platforms
« We had a great summer season in 2021 and we have seen great momentum since the start of 2022.says Xavier Lormand, the general manager of the RoussillHotel hotel group, in Saint-Cyprien (Pyrénées-Orientales). The months of June, July and August are starting to take shape, with satisfactory commitments in terms of reservations, which are higher than in 2019. For hotels, there is still some last-minute reservations so we still have of availability. But we are ahead! »
The group, which has ten hotels (from 3 to 5*, mainly in Occitanie), a golf course and two thalassotherapy hotels (L’Ile de la Lagune and Les Flamands roses), generates a turnover of 25 million euros. euros and employs 400 people in high season.). It has begun to deploy a major financing plan (4 million euros) to renovate its hotels in Montpellier, Argelès and Saint-Cyprien, and move upmarket.
Finally, according to the data and analyzes provided by the CRTL Occitanie, the reservations recorded on the platform rental segment alone (all private accommodation rented through platforms such as AirBnB, i.e. more than 100,000 addresses in Occitanie) , the numbers are ” very encouraging with, as of May 4, an increase of +65% in reservations (in turnover) for the months of July and August, compared to the same date last year. A performance described as huge » by the CRTL Occitanie…