France’s tourism industry has been the latest victim of the country’s recession – with holiday bookings down 4.5% on last year, a figure which was already 6% down on 2011.
British newspaper the Times reported that the tourism sector generated around EUR77 billion for the country last year, around 7% of national wealth, and the government cannot afford for it to spiral into decline.
France’s unemployment rate currently sits at 10.2% and the country’s president Francois Hollande has cancelled his foreign holiday to prove he is tackling the problem.
While a majority of Brits are heading to cheaper destinations like Spain and Greece, 52% of French citizens have said they will not go away this summer – a figure which represents around 900,000 fewer holidaymakers than last year.
The paper quoted the chairman of the French Union of Hotel and Restaurant Owners, Roland Heguy, as saying that takings had fallen by around 10% in July year-on-year because locals were looking for cheaper deals elsewhere.
“At the start of the summer, we put the bad performance down to the weather, but now it’s clearly the result of the crisis,” he said.
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