French tourism having a sticky summer season

Summer bookings at Hotel Beau Rivage in Le Lavandou, a popular tourist destination on the French Riviera, have been lacklustre this year.

The French have more time for holidays but are spending less in the traditional peak summer period as slow wage growth and a sluggish economy reduce spending power. The euro's strength is also a turnoff for foreigners who would otherwise like to see a country that is the world's top tourist destination.
"The month of July wasn't great," said Emmanuelle Faudi, the receptionist at the Beau Rivage. "Compared to the previous year, people are coming more for little stays that aren't planned in advance. They call and then come for two or three days."
The trend at the Beau Rivage is typical of activity this year in the French tourist industry and could have worrying consequences for the economy, which is already showing signs of a weakening in spending on other goods and services.
Tourism accounted for 6.5 percent of gross domestic product last year in France and tourist expenditure totalled 95.8 billion euros ($120 billion), according to government figures.
The Ministry of Tourism said at the end of July the 2005 summer season was set to be disappointing, despite better weather than the year before.
It said spring visits were down, and more than 50 percent of tourist offices on the Western and Northern coasts signalled a drop in reservations for July compared to summer 2004, particularly among French visitors.
With world oil prices at record highs, high petrol prices, the sluggish economy and uncertainty about job prospects have all sapped the French appetite for holiday spending.
"Holidays are expensive. We've seen higher petrol prices and tighter family budgets so spending is for priorities," Bruno Bodard, director of the tourist office in Vannes on France's west coast, said.
His town is in the region where Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is taking his holidays just a few weeks after he got the job with orders from President Jacques Chirac to do all he could to tackle unemployment stuck at more than 10 percent.

Fewer luxury meals
Workers in the tourist business say visitors have cut back on luxuries like restaurant meals and have become more particular about the quality of the service they receive.
"It's very clear that when people come they are spending less, in the restaurants they only go once a week now," said Marielle Durand, marketing officer at the tourist office in Beziers, in the South of France.
The media is full of stories about how families used to order a starter, main course and dessert but now settle for one dish.
French families, which are also growing in size, may also try to stay with friends or buy a mobile home they can use for years, rather than staying in a hotel and paying for family meals in restaurants.
In addition, the switch to a shorter 35-hour work week is changing and shortening the traditional tourist season.
The French have more time off and take more, but shorter, low-season breaks, reducing the time they take off in July or in August, when a month at the seaside used to be almost universal.
This means that the first two weeks of August are busy but July is getting quieter.
"People have less money and the 35-hour week means people leave more often but for a shorter time with the same budget," said Durand.
The strong euro also deters tourists from outside the euro zone and encourages French holidaymakers to take advantage of cheaper breaks in rising destinations such as Croatia.
The euro has weakened 8.67 percent against the U.S. dollar year-to-date but remains relatively strong compared to the parity with the dollar that was seen in 2002.
"We are paying for the strong level of the euro," said Marc Touati, an economist at Natexis Banques Populaires. "An American would think twice before coming to France on holiday."
Poor economic performance in Germany, the Netherlands and a slowdown in Britain, where many of France's foreign tourists come from, may have also helped to stifle tourism.