Tourist attendance increased favorably in September, despite a stagnation in the flow received by tourist offices and a slight drop in entries to cultural sites. Despite the ongoing crisis in Europe, the tourist clientele was more numerous this summer on the French Riviera, even showing a greater willingness to spend than in 2009-10.
The increase is particularly felt in the segment of trips by plane, which rose by 24% compared to 2010. September saw over 300,000 air trips, a volume almost as high as July or August.
The “business” demand rose the most this month, with a total of air trips for business purposes increasing by 88%, compared to +13% for leisure air trips. The share of the business segment thus climbed to 23% against 15% in September 2010.
The long-term trend has become positive again in the business segment, following the downturn experienced in 2009-10.
This evolution concerns only the “incoming tourism” category as a reason for passengers’ travel, compared to the total traffic growth at Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, which increased by more than 10% this month.
In tourist sites, whose attendance depends more on leisure tourists, there has been a 4% decrease in total entries. In parks and gardens, the decline is approaching 9%.
Accommodations have benefited greatly from the recovery.
Hotel occupancy increased by 6 points to an average of 78%, with a total of overnight stays up by 8%.
The occupancy of tourist residences also increased by 2 points to 78%, a rate identical to that of hotels. Overnight stays in residences rose by 14%, completely erasing the loss of 2010.
The average occupancy rate for accommodations is approaching the record of September 2000, with 78% against 80%. This makes it the second-best September in this respect.
In Gîtes de France, after a decline in overnight stays in the summer months, the trend reversed, and September recorded a 5% increase in overnight stays.
The average expenditure per person per day thus reached €79 in the third quarter of 2011 (for air visitors only), compared to €68 in 2010 and €69 in 2009. On average, in current euros, visitor spending is returning to its 2006 level.
This rebound equally concerns both French visitors (€50 per day) and foreign visitors (€87), although the latter are still clearly more generous consumers than the domestic clientele.
Depending on the travel purpose, leisure clientele increased their spending by 16% to €73, while business clientele (concentrated in September) saw their average daily expenditure rise by 12% to €180.
These results, based on responses from 954 visitors on 291 departing flights between early July and late September, correct the generally negative perception of the purchasing power trend among visitors, as felt by professionals.
This discrepancy mainly arises from the evolution in the structure of visitors’ budgets, who preserve or increase their accommodation expenditure (partly linked to rate changes) at the expense of spending on dining and shopping. It is also explained by the fact that professionals tend to evaluate consumption by comparing it to the best levels achieved in past years (€108 per day in summer 2005), rather than strictly to the level of summer 2010.
