French People Either Lack Desire or Means to Travel Far for Christmas Holidays: Long‑haul Travel Bookings Fall 21% YoY
Since this summer, overseas destinations have been setting the pace for tour operators, and the upcoming Christmas holidays do not seem to be an exception.
After a very mixed summer, travel agencies fear that reservations for the next Christmas holidays will once again stall. At the end of October, EdV, the travel companies union, noted an average annual drop of 4.9% in the number of files. With the exception of reservations in Europe which increased by 0.6%, those in France fell by 5% but it was mainly long-distance trips that were neglected.
Long-haul is down 21% in number of files. To date, it represents 11% of reservation files compared to 13% a year ago. “These initial results reflect still cautious demand for the end-of-year holidays.
The next few weeks will be decisive to see if last minute reservations will make it possible to reduce this decline and support the activity of travel agencies", comments EdV. "The social movements and events of the second part of October are weighing on the morale of the French and businesses. Activity and reservations seem to be suspended as the situation evolves,” adds Valérie Boned, President of Entreprises du Voyage.
-31% for Martinique at Christmas In terms of destinations, France retains first place (-5%) ahead of Tunisia, the only destination in the Top 3 on the rise (+2%), and Spain, in sharp decline (-14%). Germany enters the ranking in 14th place with an exceptional increase (+157%). Except for Mexico (+2%), all long-haul destinations which generally attract visitors in winter are in the red, such as the Dominican Republic (-20%), the United States (-22%), Thailand (-15%) and even Martinique (-31%).
These declines are therefore part of a downward trend fueled by the global geopolitical situation and the return of inflation. Over the five months of the summer/All Saints' Day period (June-October), the average drop reached 6%, mainly due to the drop in long-distance travel. “The number of files has been constantly trending downward, with an overall decline of -15%.
The average basket, almost stable over the period, cannot compensate for this decrease, leading to a sharp decline in business volume (-15%),” we can read.
Machine-translated from French
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- BFM Business5 Nov, 15:51
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