After three weeks of strikes in the Middle East that have caused numerous casualties and major damage in the region, resulting in a rise in fuel prices, not to mention grounded planes and diverted airlines, it is the tourism sector that is being impacted by the effects of this conflict. According to the French Tourism Alliance, on Friday, March 20, 4 out of 10 French people are ready to modify their vacation plans for the spring and summer.
According to Didier Arino, the director general of the analysis firm Protourisme who has looked into this phenomenon, “there are already 800,000 French people who say they have given up on traveling abroad this summer and 500,000 for Easter holidays. We can see that the tourism map is being redrawn, with a distrust towards Asian destinations and destinations in the Near and Middle East.” The images of French people stranded abroad are not helping, “it must be said that there are two anxieties, that of war, obviously, but also that of being stuck on the other side of the world,” he points out.
If the French are abandoning the Middle East for their upcoming vacations, it is also impacting all destinations close to the region. “There is a typical example, that of Egypt, after a 25% increase at the beginning of the year, bookings are dropping by two-thirds. This is also the case in Turkey and Cyprus,” notes Didier Arino. A boon for French tourism, “it is reshaping the tourism map by making France more attractive, as our location in the heart of Europe and the increase in fuel prices make us more competitive for our European neighbors,” says this specialist in the tourism sector.
Conflict is reshaping the tourism map
As French people give up on foreign travel, the crisis is favoring regional tourism. “Whether it’s the Côtes d’Armor, Provence Occitane, the Arcachon Basin, Bocage Vendéen, the Nantes Vineyard, or the Ossau Valley, we are seeing an acceleration of bookings,” observes Didier Arino, director general of the analysis firm Protourisme. “It’s more complicated for those who depend on distant, international clients, particularly for Paris, which is already experiencing a decrease in its occupancy rates and room revenue, but on the other hand, for French-French or Franco-European tourism, it is obvious that we are in an extremely well-positioned situation in the heart of Europe,” he continues.
The only drawback is purchasing power. “For a Belgian, a Dutch, or a German, it’s closer to come to France than to cross the entire Europe to go south. We can see that we have a card to play, but with one condition, that the purchasing power of Europeans is not too impacted by inflation, price increases, and especially fuel costs,” tempers Didier Arino.
