Contrary to a bad season in 2003 and an equally disappointing one in 2004, July 2005 will finally have kept its promises for French shoreline hotels. Globally, for the entire the French shoreline the final results for the month of July show an uptrend of the RevPAR by 6.8% with an occupancy rate higher than 80%. Along the Mediterranean in particular, the month of July was good, or even very good with an OR up by 3.9 points to 80.9%. “We were hit hard last year,” admits Catherine Jenoudet, commercial director of the hotel Ambassadeur at Juan-les-Pins, “but the month of July was surprising, and in a good way! We surpassed the ambitious budget we had set for ourselves. After the heat wave combined with forest fires in 2003, last year clients did not want to renew the experience. But then they ran into mediocre weather on the Atlantic, so this year they’re returning to the Mediterranean.”One thing is certain: even if the results are heterogeneous, all professionals have had to work with a clientele that is increasingly economical and concerned about prices. In short: vacationers leave later, for a shorter period and at a lower price. “Generally we did not do anything special for the individual tourist,” recalls Catherine Jenoudet. “Yet, last year we were unable to reverse the trend mid-season. Thus, we changed how we work, with new pricing packages on the individual market. Our yield management was efficient… and had no major consequences on the ADR.”Bertrand Jacob, Director of Operations Mercure Grand Ouest, shares this analysis as he speaks of a summer comparable to 2004 throughout the region (which confirms the stagnation of the RevPar), and observes a distinct erosion of activity in Brittany: “Last year people flooded here out of fear of another heat wave in...