The magic of the festive season may be taking over the streets of France, but it's a very different story for hotels. The traditional Christmas markets attracted millions of visitors, as they do every year, some of them setting new records, yet the French hotel industry performed somewhat less well in the final month of the year. This slight downturn in business means that French hoteliers are not in a position to end 2023 on a positive note, as was the case the previous year when petrol shortages raged across France.
While the national occupancy rate stood at 62.7% in November, it fell to 56.6% in December. This rate is also down compared to 2022 and 2019, by 0.8 points and 1 point respectively, marking a slowdown in the recovery across the country.
RevPAR at national level is therefore down by -1.1% compared to December 2022, but up by 21.1% compared to 2019. This increase was driven by a 23.2% rise in average daily rates, as hoteliers once again used their pricing power in an inflationary environment. However, prices will be more or less the same as in December 2022, with timid growth of 0.3%.
The upscale and midscale segments are once again leading the way, with occupancy rates of 59.6% and 58.1% respectively, while the entry-level segments are just under 55%. Only the top end of the market is showing an increase compared to 2022 (+0.6 points), while the midscale segment is the only one to return to its pre-Covid levels (+0.5 points).
Although they also show the best RevPAR growth compared with 2019 (+25.6% for the upscale +21.4% for the midscale), it is the super-economy and budget segments that stand out compared with 2022, with activity levels up by +0.6% and +1.3% respectively. Conversely, the upscale is lagging behind by 3.4% and the midscale segment by -1%, with average daily rates down by -4.3% and -0.2% respectively. At the same time, prices in the super-economy segment are up by 3.9% compared with 2022, while prices in the budget segment are up by 2.7%.
Across the country as a whole, only Paris is above its pre-pandemic occupancy level (+3 points), while Ile-de-France excluding Paris is still lagging furthest behind (-7 points). However, the Regions are very close to their 2019 level (-0.2 points) and are the only ones to exceed...
Paris
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