Foreign less inclined to visit France – Le Figaro

VIDEO – According to INSEE, the attacks and bad weather have dropped their attendance by 8.5% in the second quarter 2016 compared to the same period in 2015.

The tourists hotels and group accommodation in France, first tourist destination in 2015 with 84.7 million foreigners visited, fell sharply in the second quarter (- 4.8% compared to the same period in 2015). Concerned, the attacks and bad weather, according to the National Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), which publishes these figures on Friday 19th August. The result is a net impact on the number of foreign overnight stays (-8.5%) and, to a lesser extent, of those residents (-2.9%). A trend that augurs even more worrying results for the summer season who suffer from Nice attacks that took place on 14 July 2016 in the following quarter, then.

The first quarter had already been heavily influenced by the decline in foreign attendance (-2.7%), but the fall of the second quarter is “comparable to that observed in the fourth quarter of 2015, the following the November attacks, “noted INSEE.

Despite an upturn in the first quarter (+ 1.9%), overnight stays in hotels are divided down (-3.5% yoy) in the second quarter. These are, for the third consecutive quarter, foreign tourists missing (-7.3%).

The decline is most visible in campgrounds with a total attendance fell by 6.8% in the second quarter (including foreign: -4.2%) compared to the same period in 2015, due also, the gloomy weather and a number of public holidays less than last year (two against five). Attendance in collective accommodation (excluding camping) also fell sharply in the second quarter (-6.4% yoy). Again, the defection of foreign customers was particularly strong (-20.2%).

As for hotels, only those located in provincial towns increased their overnight stays (+ 1.5%) “thanks in part to the lure of the football Euro on French as a foreign clientele,” said INSEE. “The attendance of the Paris area hotels is the most affected, especially due to the defection of foreign customers (-12.9%),” says the note. As for collective accommodation, the province is doing as better than Paris.

The French authorities have set themselves the objective of welcoming 100 million international tourists by 2020.