France saw a 4% decline in tourism occupancy in the second quarter of 2024

While the country undoubtedly enjoyed a boost in tourism as a result of the Paris 2024 Olympics, in the second quarter of the year, tourism occupancy was down in France, by 4.0%, compared to the same period a year earlier.

The most significant drop in tourism occupancy was seen in hotels (-4.5%), while holiday homes and other short-stay accommodations fell by 2.5%, the data, from French statistics body Insee, showed.

Hotel occupancy

Hotel occupancy totalled 57 million overnight stays in the second quarter of 2024, with the number of French residents staying at hotels 5.5% lower in the period, compared to Q2 2023, a reduction of 2.1 million overnight stays.

Hotel stays by non-French individuals were down 2.7% year-on-year, or a reduction of 600,000 overnight stays.

Despite the overall decline, 4- and 5-star hotels saw a slight increase in occupancy (+0.6%), primarily due to an uptick in non-resident customers. However, unclassified and 1- to 2-star hotels experienced the steepest declines, at 11.3% and 8.7%, respectively.

Geographically, the Île-de-France region and ski mountain areas saw the biggest declines in hotel occupancy, of 8.5% and 6.8%, respectively. Non-resident attendance increased along coastlines (+7.6%) and in provincial urban areas (+1.4%).

European tourists down

The decline in non-resident hotel stays was more pronounced among European tourists, with British attendance seeing a drop of 17.4% and German attendance by 10.5%.

At the same time, there was a significant increase in overnight stays by tourists from the United States (+15.5%) and China (+40%). Despite this surge in tourists, however, Chinese attendance remained at half of its pre-pandemic levels.

Data on tourism accommodation data in the third quarter of the year, the period including the Paris 2024 Olympics, will be published in November.