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While the drop in snowfall in ski resorts and the consequences of global warming weaken the logic of spending winter holidays in the snow, the Routard guide highlights the rise of another trend when it comes time to take a break when France shivers. Not only should the sun be popular this year, but what’s more, tourists will be eyeing distant lands (and not for skiing!).
In a recent study conducted by OpinionWay for Ginkoia, a software publisher for the sports business, only 19% of French people would consider going to the mountains during this winter season, whether at Christmas or next February/March. While ski holidays are still perceived as holidays reserved for tourists who can afford it (according to a Tripandco.com study, 63% of French people would like to go there but feel they cannot afford it), sports resorts tricolor winter races have other challenges to take up: that of global warming, but also that of remaining obvious for those who take a break. According to the Guide du Routard, 84% of a community of more than 2,000 travelers would like to go on vacation this winter, but not necessarily to the mountains…
Because the winter period no longer inevitably rhymes with the joys of snow, some preferring to warm up in the sun. The proof: according to this study, the destination France (metropolitan) for this winter is only a choice for 30% of people questioned, a proportion which remains substantial, but which is in reality down 14 points, between September and November 2022. In the same dynamic, Europe is also suffering from the disaffection of holidaymakers, of the order of eleven points with 38% of travelers intending to stay on the old continent this winter. For these tourists, Spain, Portugal and the UK make up the most common options.
However, after two years of pandemic which have slowed down the tourism sector, with an almost complete shutdown in 2020 at the time of the closing of borders and repeated confinements, holidaymakers share a desire to escape and cite destinations distant to take leave. Cited by 13% of respondents, Asia, for example, jumped 9 points, the most significant increase between September and November 2022, the comparison periods of this study. Also, respondents named the Americas as their next vacation destination for this winter (+6 points) while Africa (9%), Oceania (3%) and the Middle East (3%) make up options less obvious.
These departure intentions are all the more real as more travelers share their plan to take the plane (+3 points against -6 points for the car). However, this does not imply that holidaymakers have no ecological conscience since the train benefits from the same attraction (+3 points).