Every summer, Mathieu Roux organizes canoe trips along the Allier gorges. A route in the heart of nature at the foot of the cliffs of Malmouche (Puy-de-Dôme), which leads paddlers to glimpse a Gallo-Roman oppidum or a medieval village ranked among the most beautiful in France. But this year, along the banks, fewer customers were donning a life jacket. “Our turnover has dropped by 25% compared to previous years”regrets this manager of Auvergne Loisirs, who employs around fifteen people in season.
Like him, many tourism professionals say they are disappointed by this summer of 2024 – probably because they expected a lot from it, after two very good seasons. July was particularly difficult. In Brittany, only 38% of the thousand tourism professionals surveyed said they were satisfied with their July results, while they were more than 80% between 2019 and 2022, according to a study conducted by the region. More than 70% of respondents reported a drop in turnover. The same type of responses were found in surveys conducted in Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
Were there really fewer tourists? While the proportion of French people going on weekends or holidays during the summer has changed little (at 65%, it has fallen by two points, according to figures provided by ADN Tourisme), the length of stays has been reduced and spending has been more restricted. Until mid-August, the number of visitors to tourist accommodation was down 6% compared to last year, according to figures provided by the Ministry of Tourism on Tuesday, September 3. It then rose again, reaching the same levels as last year late in the summer.
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Uncertainties
Multiple factors explain this situation: poor weather throughout the spring, and until the end of July, which did not encourage the French to plan a vacation; political uncertainties linked to the elections, generating a form of wait-and-see attitude; the Olympic Games, which led many French people to postpone or cancel their vacations; a late start to school vacations; the absence of a long weekend around July 14, etc. In addition, the increase in prices over the past two years in all areas of tourism and leisure has led to decisions being made. Among the one thousand two hundred tourism professionals surveyed in the latest study of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, three quarters believe that tourist spending has fallen this year.
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