Holidays no longer rhyme quite carefree. Even if the limit of 100 km will lapse on June 2 after this extended weekend of Pentecost, our return to freedom will be lived in a more sanitized way. Because whatever the destination chosen to escape, a whole new criterion, hygiene, is now essential in the list which determines the act of booking travelers.
According to the results of a survey by the OpinionWay institute for the Internet sales site for very short stays, Weekendesk, cleanliness is now the second most important criterion for French people when choosing their hotel. Price remains the very first variable for 63% of those questioned, but hygiene is just behind for 56% of them.
"This is a very new element and obviously directly linked to the health crisis," said Sébastien Venturini, CEO of Weekendesk, who analyzes the desires of the French people after the confinement linked to the Covid-19 epidemic. “Hygiene now passes far ahead of comfort. And this criterion goes hand in hand with other desires, for this Pentecost weekend, as for the following in June: simplicity for 81% of respondents rather than luxury, nature and wide open spaces for 76 %. The other surprise of the survey was the plunge in the "wi-fi" criterion, which until recently was a very popular and almost unavoidable option. "
Disinfection, "drive check-in" and "karaoke-balcony"
Protective measures against coronavirus are bound to last, even on vacation. Tourism accommodation professionals adapt and implement strict health protocols to welcome their future customers. Regular disinfection of the premises, marking on the ground to encourage physical distance, provision of hydroalcoholic gel or wearing of the mask recommended in common areas, no holiday center, bed and breakfast, gîte, hotel or even camping will escape the rule.
“The task is difficult because it is a question of protecting both our customers and our employees, without however making a tourist stay too clinical with constraints which have nothing to do with what a vacation should be, explains Jean Pochoy, CEO of Azureva, a brand that manages 43 holiday villages, residences and campsites in France. We have been inventive by setting up, for example, the drive check-in which allows new arrivals to be checked in without leaving their car, or by imagining different activities such as balcony karaoke. "
"Exceptional security measures"
Emphasizing hygiene has also become a way of attracting and convincing customers who are reluctant to frequent establishments where promiscuity is usually the order of the day. The Center Parcs website, three of which reopen from June 5, highlights from the first page "exceptional safety measures" such as routes and single-direction traffic in common infrastructure, the closure of playgrounds for children or jacuzzis in aquatic areas, or the systematic disinfection of leisure equipment before and after use.
Same concern at Siblu, owner of 19 top-of-the-range campsites in France, which promises on the home page of its website to reserve "safe holidays" with a check-in there also from his car and even the recognition of vehicle plates for the automatic opening of barriers at the entrance to campsites!