Tourism in France grew over 12 per cent year-on-year

During the first three months of 2023, occupancy in all accommodation settings except campsites in France – measured in overnight stays – was 12.6 per cent higher than its Q1 2022 level, according to the latest data from Insee (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques – the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies).

Hotel occupancy rose by 19.2 per cent – equating to 6.9 million overnight stays – compared with the same period last year, which was still affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Domestic tourism increased by 7.7 per cent – nearly 2.1 million additional overnight stays – while international tourists spent nearly 4.8 million nights in France. This was an increase of 55.8 per cent, mainly contributing to the high increase in hotel stays.

Upscale hotels benefitted the most from the increased hotel occupancy. Compared with the first quarter of 2022, overnight stays in these hotels increased by 31.4 per cent. Only unclassified hotels’ numbers remained below its Q1 2022 level (–2.7 per cent).

Hotel occupancy was 37.4 per cent higher in Île-de-France than in the first three months of 2022 – representing four million additional overnight stays. In provincial urban areas it rose by 15.1 per cent – almost two million extra overnight stays.

However, the increase in coastline hotels (6.1 per cent) and ski mountain hotels (3.4 per cent) was much lower.

Business travel also increased by 17.3 per cent year-on-year – 3.1 million additional overnight stays – but the share that business travel covered has decreased from 48.8 per cent in Q1 2022 to 48 per cent in Q1 2023.