The month of May was rich in travel opportunities for the French, who, unsurprisingly, overwhelmingly chose France. With no fewer than three bank holidays in a single month, French hoteliers had plenty to celebrate after a sluggish start to the year for a number of destinations. But did performance live up to expectations? Find out with data provided by MKG Consulting.
May 1st bank holiday: the hotel industry has more than one ace up its sleeve
Pont du 1er mai 2025 - Evolution RevPAR par Hospitality ON
The outlook for this first bridge was very promising, with bookings up by 8.5% nationally as of 28 April. And a number of destinations were showing good momentum, including Paris (+17.5%), the eastern Mediterranean coastline (+14.5%) and the western Mediterranean coastline (+11.8%), while the Brittany coastline and the northern Atlantic seaboard saw some decline.
Surprisingly, it was the Channel coast that stood out, with RevPAR jumping by 59.7%, driven by both a sharply higher occupancy rate (+16.4 points) and a considerably higher average daily rate (+24.4%). The destination's appeal is due in part to its proximity to the Paris region and the summer temperatures recorded over the weekend.
The Eastern Mediterranean coast is in second place, with RevPAR up 22.9%. This fine performance is due more to visitor numbers (+9.7 points) than to prices (+7.5%). Another surprise is that it is not Paris or the Western Mediterranean coast that closes the top three, but the North Atlantic coast, where RevPAR is up by 14.7%.
Although the Brittany coast did see a slight fall in its occupancy rate (-1 point), the significant rise in its average daily rate (+14.4%) enabled it to post a positive increase in its RevPAR for this first weekend of the month (+12.4%).
By contrast, the Western Mediterranean coast underperformed over the extended weekend, with RevPAR down -4.2%. Although customers were out in force (+4.6 points), the destination's hoteliers did not play the pricing power card like their colleagues, with the average daily rate falling by -10.6%.
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