While the anticipated turnover of bookings from November 1 to April 30 remains up 1.4% to 578 million euros, the number of travelers is down 4.4% to 230,401 travelers.
The first figures for bookings for this winter from French tour operators “are not satisfactory” after a summer of “roller coasters” due to uncertainties during the Olympic Games and the political calendar, according to the Syndicate of Tour Operating Companies (Seto). “We are not very satisfied with the winter,” René-Marc Chikli, president of Seto, told the press on the eve of the opening of the IFTM tourism trade fair in Paris.
While the anticipated turnover of bookings from November 1 to April 30 remains up 1.4% to 578 million euros, according to Seto, the number of travelers is down 4.4% to 230,401 travelers. “Maybe this week (with the IFTM show, editor’s note), everyone will rush to the destinations,” hoped René-Marc Chikli. The president of Seto explains this wait-and-see attitude by the political situation in France. “The minds of French travelers were to know if they were going to have a right-wing or left-wing Prime Minister,” he explained. “Overall, people have not decided on their winter vacations, unlike August 2023” which had seen a 40% jump in bookings.
“The question is no longer inflation, it’s ‘am I going to be taxed?'” he said.
In terms of the number of customers, the foreign destinations that are particularly popular this winter remain Morocco, Mauritius, the Canary Islands and Thailand.
Revenues expected to rise but attendance down for package holidays this summer
Regarding the summer season (from May to the end of October), the results “are a roller coaster”, explained René-Marc Chikli. For the 70 tour operators of Seto, “the month of May is excellent, June is reassuring compared to 2023 which was exceptional and the month of July was impacted by the communication on the Olympic Games”, with customers who feared not having a plane.
“We’re making up for it in the late season,” said René-Marc Chikli.
For package holidays (organised trips including transport and accommodation), the core business of tour operators, the anticipated turnover for the summer is up 4.8% to 2.3 billion euros with an average expenditure up 6.2% to 3,742 euros. The number of travellers over the summer season, however, fell by 1.7% to 1.62 million.
Greece, Tunisia and the Balearic Islands in Spain lead the medium-haul destinations, representing 79% of summer traffic. While all destinations are down slightly year-on-year, Italy, in eighth position, is up 30%. Mauritius, the United States and the Dominican Republic form the top podium of long-haul destinations.
