The French organization Protourisme has published a study on the intentions of the French population when organizing their summer vacation. The report reveals a decrease of departures of French compared to last year, a reduction that is even more notable when compared with figures of 2003.
If in 2003 55% of Frenchmen went on vacation in the summer, the figure has now gone down until 48%. Within the percentage of population that claims they will not go away on holiday, the majority are employees that are paid less than 2000 euros a month.
Shorter and closer
Referring to the duration of the vacations, what predominates are stays between 1 and 2 weeks, with 41%, and those of less than a week, with 36%. When it comes to preferred destinations, 50% of the French choose the European continent, preferring Spain, Portugal and coastal areas, whereas long trips such as United States represent just 10% of departures.
A change in reservation habits
In the study, a considerable rise of last moment reservations is detected. Since last year, the amount of reservations made within the last two months previous to the holidays has rised in 7%.
Similar budgets
In spite of these details, it must be said that 64% of the French assert that their budget for vacations is the same as last year’s, whereas 23% will have to reduce it. The habits that are most affected by the decrease of expenses are the purchase of souvenirs and the consumption in the bars and restaurants.