THE French market has experienced a sluggish start to the year as a result of poor bookings over the millennium period.
Many of the people who make up France’s core market in the UK failed to make a decision about their travel plans before the end of last year, according to the deputy director of the French Government Tourist Office in London, Pascal Visintainer
“We now have a lack of bookings and we don’t know if we will be able to close the gap,” he admitted. “We are looking to late bookings now.”
UK visitor numbers to France rose by 5% to 12m last year but Visintainer expects volumes to be flat this year.
Although the pound is still soaring against the French franc, Visintainer believes this will have only a marginal effect on the amount of people travelling to the destination this year.
“If the pound goes down to FF8, it makes a big difference, but if it goes above FF10 it is not that important psychologically,” he explained.
One positive factor for Britons visiting France this year is the introduction of passports for pets, which allows pet owners to take their animals on holiday without the need for a quarantine period.
France has hit the headlines over the past few months due to an oil spill that affected beaches in Brittany and severe storms that swept northern and central France in December.
An on-going clear-up operation is underway to get rid of the oil on the beaches in southern Brittany.
The problem worsens whenever there is a high tide but the situation is likely to have improved by the peak summer season.
Visintainer admitted that some of France’s forests were devastated by the storms and several are still closed because they are too dangerous to enter.
The FGTO is planning to spend up to £2m on advertising in the UK this year, compared with around £1.5m last year.
A host of separate campaigns will promote specific regions in France, including Brittany, Corsica, the Loire Valley and Paris.
Many of these will be undertaken in partnership with operators such as Eurostar and Brittany Ferries.
Visintainer said the FGTO is also seizing the opportunity to promote cities to which low-cost airlines like Buzz and Go are flying . These include Lyons, Bordeaux and Marseilles.
Some of France’s most popular tourist attractions will be exhibiting for the first time at France 2000, the FGTO’s annual UKworkshop. These include Disneyland Paris, Cite de l’Espace in Toulouse, and Vulcania, the new European Volcano Centre in Auvergne.
The two-day workshop has been run by the FGTO for the past 20 years to bring UK operators into face-to-face contact with French suppliers.
France 2000 will be held at Celtic Manor in Newport, Wales next Thursday and Friday (March 2 and 3).
In total there will be 150 French exhibitors, including 13 tourist attractions, 19 independent or chain hotels and eight transport companies. All the regions of France will be represented.
The workshop is expected to attract 250 tour operators and coach companies which sell France in the UK and Ireland.