A SERIES of natural and political problems has hit the self-drive market to France, with holidaymakers electing to tour Ireland rather than hop across the channel, according tooperators.
Cresta in particular has reported a significant swing with the storms that ravaged northern France, the oil spill on the west coast and on-going beef crisis largely to blame for a dip in business.
Marketing manager Jane Williams said the family and first-timers’ markets have suffered the most with peak July and August trade showing a 20% year-on-year decline.
“The true francophiles are still heading to traditional areas such as the Dordogne but with the family and first-timers it’s a different story,” she said.
“It’s been a difficult few months for France. People think the west coast is covered in oil, towns in northern France were damaged in the storms, the beef war had caused problems between the two countries and holidaymakers are still wary of the lorry blockade. All in all, it’s not been the best of times.”
The storms had a direct effect on Cresta’s Disneyland Paris programme with the themed Davy Crockett lodges temporarily closed while repairs were carried out. They are due to reopen shortly.
“We lost a few bookings because of this,” admitted Williams.
She added that travel agents could also be wary of selling motoring holidays because they are not familiar with the product.
“Self-drive is hard to sell at the best of times and while France is a great country, relatively few agents have experienced a motoring holiday,” she said. “It’s not really the type of product where we can run educationals. But we are seeing even more resistance than usual at the moment.”
But while the French market is struggling, Ireland is booming with many families switching their holidays in light of the problems. Cresta has added more self-catering units to cope with demand.
“There has been a definite swing from France to Ireland and the pleasing aspect is that customers are no longer thinking of Ireland as just Dublin,” said Williams.
The western county of Sligo and the county of Donegal in the far northwest are showing 300% growth, albeit from a low base, with Cork and Kerry up 60% on last year. Exact figures are not available.
The operator has also just launched a dedicated brochure to Belfast as it looks to capture the growing short break, self-drive market. Departures from Troon, Heysham and Stranraer are featured.
Bridge Travel self-drive brand manager Jackie Willcocks said sales to France have dipped by 9% but added that the overall self-drive market was proving tough.
She said the 30% discounts offered by the mass summer sun tour operators could be eating into the market.
“People may be seeing the discounts and opting for a package instead,” she said. “There has been a lot of negative press about France which has clearly had an effect.”
Crystal Premier France product manager Simone Clark painted a slightly rosier picture but admitted December and January was “slow to say the least”.
“It’s beginning to pick up now but it was a concern,” said Clark. “We introduced a range of special offers to stimulate the market and is seems to have worked.”
Both Clark and Travelscene sales director John Harding said there is growing demand for longer duration holidays while the favourable exchange rate is helping to boost short breaks.