Will the big celebration of the Paris Olympic Games put a damper on French vacations?
At the start of spring, they are looking forward to this joyful prospect of getting out of a daily life dedicated to work and tarnished by declining purchasing power.
But at what cost ?
When considering booking a vacation spot, whether in the fresh air of the mountains or on the Mediterranean beaches, prices reach peaks in France, particularly during the two weeks of the Paris Olympics, July 26 to August 11, an already expensive period in summer.
Read alsoGoing on vacation during the Olympics: “Customers are starting to give up in the face of high prices”
For Ile-de-France residents, determined to avoid traffic problems - among others - in Île-de-France, or other French people, disinterested in the event or sidelined by the (very) expensive Olympic tickets, the note is salty announcement.
But for those who leave before or after, too!
In a context of widespread inflation, vacation-related expenses, whether accommodation or transportation, are no exception.
Prices for hotels and campsites located on the coast rise by 3 to 10%.
Significant increases, which reveal an “OG effect”?
“If there is one, it is actually quite marginal,” replies Vanguélis Panayotis, CEO of MKG Consulting, a consulting firm in the tourism sector.
Since 2019, campsite and hotel prices have exploded by around 30%.
Coming out of the health crisis, they took advantage of the French's irremediable desire for vacation.
»
Also read “The prices already seem crazy to me”: families facing very expensive vacations
Today, the desire remains the same but the wallets are getting smaller.
The famous “Covid savings”, this more or less comfortable financial cushion created during the health crisis, has gone up in smoke.
At the same time, constrained spending has soared.
“As a result, even if the vacation budget remains sacred, families, who start earlier and earlier, decide and go less far or differently.
They change their habits to try to find the best price,” underlines Romain Claudel, co-founder of Cozycozy, a vacation rental comparator.
This trend is observed in campsites where the mobile home, the must-have for thousands of families eager for the great outdoors, is starting to lose its luster.
Holidaymakers head towards the “bare pitches”, with their tent or caravan.
“When you have a limited budget, you prefer to buy a tent from Decathlon rather than take a mobile home.
In addition, you can also only stay a few days when you are required to reserve a minimum week for a mobile home,” relates Nicolas Dayot, president of the National Outdoor Hotel Federation (FNHPA), who observes “a increase in reservations for bare pitches, with individuals who book early to be sure of having places.
» But also protect yourself from even higher prices as the date approaches.
This same reflex also partly explains the upward variations in train ticket prices, which are much more expensive than the same period last year - + 130% for a Paris-Toulouse!
—, unlike those for car rental which are currently on the decline.
“The prices that we are observing today, in mid-March, are those that we could see in May or June 2023,” points out Victor Bertho, general manager at Kombo, a ticket sales platform.
Train occupancy rates are already high, which explains these already high prices.
The fare increase
(2.6%)
decided by the SNCF for 2024 is also being felt.
»
The principle is repeated in the air sector, where prices have been constantly increasing since the end of the health crisis.
The companies also hope to take advantage of the tourist attraction generated by the Olympic Games to bring on board foreigners keen to visit France.
“The carriers know that they will manage to fill the planes even at these prices,” says Guillaume Rostand, spokesperson for Liligo.com.
But we will reach a threshold of acceptability.
The risk is that the French will start to turn on their heels.
» However, a possible drop in prices, in the short and medium term, is not on the agenda.
On the contrary.
Too happy to have reconstituted, even inflated, their margins after years of purgatory, tourism professionals do not envisage going back.
“They cannot increase much more, so the challenge for them is to succeed in maintaining today's prices,” says Vanguélis Panayotis.
At the risk of seeing more and more French people forced to stay at home, enjoying sporting events in front of their TV.