If during the 1st quarter stays in France fell sharply (-10%), European and Mediterranean destinations did well (+ 3%), long-haul destinations saw their attendance increase by 12% compared to the 1st quarter of 2016.
It is to Spain, Italy and Morocco for medium-haul and Cuba, Cape Verde and Canada for long-haul that winter departures have increased the most. For spring and summer 2017, France is stable (-1%), while bookings for holidays abroad are growing very strongly: +15% for medium-haul destinations and +25% for long-haul destinations. In the Mediterranean basin the leading quartet remains, in order: Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal. We also note a significant return from Croatia.
However, destinations that have been ignored in recent years (Tunisia, Morocco, Egypt) record a doubling of reservations compared to 2016 for departures for the spring-summer 2017 season. The leaders of distant destinations do not change: USA, Dominican Republic, Thailand, Cape Verde, Mauritius, Canada and Cuba.
The improvement in vacation departures is accompanied by an increase of 11.35% in the issuance of plane tickets issued in France by travel agencies in the first quarter (6,430,000). Such significant progress over a full quarter has never been measured in the 21st century. The same goes for the increase in the issuance of train tickets: +13.6% in the first quarter. “These strong increases in air and rail travel probably anticipate a revival of economic activity. While the growth in vacation intentions reflects a recovery in “household morale” who have the means to go on vacation.”
The data indicated is in number of passengers and developments in relation to the same period of 2016. The data comes from the barometer produced by Les Entreprises du Voyage in partnership with Orchestra and Gestour for “holidays”. Air ticket issues come from sales reports from IATA France, those concerning trains from SNCF.
source: dailytourism
