Tourism in France is also showing positive signs of awakening. The situation was well illustrated by Didier Arino, CEO of Protourisme, an independent consultancy firm specializing in tourism, leisure and culture which is very active in France. Arino was interviewed by the specialized magazine TourMag.com and gave an overview of the trend of the tourist season, offering an optimistic point of view.
According to Arino, whose full interview – in French – you can read here, there are plans to leave for July and August at the highest levels. Out of 68 million French, 35 million have expressed their intention to go on vacation: two million more than last year. 20 percent of these people could go abroad, a figure to be compared with an average of 30% in pre-pandemic periods and with the paltry 6% of last year.
The interview and the numbers obviously refer to each type of tourism, but Arino believes that the campsites are recording excellent results. In general, the protocols and measures put in place to ensure the health and safety of guests have proved effective, so much so that the confidence of tourists is very good.
While aware that even in France most of the tourism will be “proximity”, Protourisme also expects a recovery of foreign tourism, in particular from Belgium and Holland. Germany, on the other hand, appears late and the United Kingdom remains an unknown factor. For the French who decided to go abroad, the discriminating factor could be the price. Arino thus believes that Spain, Italy and Greece could be among the most popular destinations.
Revolution Compact: the outdoor automatic laundry kiosk