Tourist accommodation in France in 2021

How many tourist accommodation sites are there in France? And among them, how many hotels? How many campsites? Who was hit hardest by the Covid crisis? We answer all of these questions!

The figures

There are a total of 29,313 tourist accommodation sites in France (in 2021). Among them:

• Tourist hotels: 17,405
• Campsites: 8,239
• Holiday residences and similar accommodation: 2,386
• Holiday villages and family holiday centres: 962
• Youth hostels, international stay centres, sports centres: 321

Note the difference between a hotel, booked for a short stay, and a holiday residence, intended for longer stays.

Tourist accommodation and the Covid-19 crisis

For hotels, the drop in turnover was brutal (compared with 2019): down 43%! That said, the French hotel industry proved more resilient than its neighbours: 47% in the United Kingdom and 63% in Germany. Unsurprisingly, the hardest-hit hotels were luxury hotels, deprived of their international clientele.

Leisure tourism, however, did not fall away nearly as sharply. By switching their holiday plans to France, French holidaymakers drove up bookings in the mountains and along the coast. Rental prices climbed and houses with a swimming pool were snapped up over the summer!

If you would like to look into the subject further, you can consult the many infographics published by INSEE. All of these figures are striking. Did you expect numbers like these? If this is a topic that interests you, here is an article on the Gîtes de France® label that should appeal to you.