Gîtes de France, the organisation which pioneered the country’s rural holiday lets market, is celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2025 with a touring photographic display of extraordinary French landscapes.
The exhibition, called Ailleurs en France (elsewhere in France), paints a rosy picture of places to stay in the country – but it comes at a worrying time for holiday accommodation owners.
Last October, the government approved a series of measures limiting the tax advantages of furnished tourist rentals while giving municipalities greater power to regulate them.
One of the biggest changes is the reduction of tax allowances under the micro-BIC regime (a simplified accounting system using fixed expense allowances).
The new rules for micro-Bic rentals are: 50% allowance for classified holiday rentals and for chambres d’hôtes within a micro-Bic ceiling of €77,700 turnover (down from 71% and €188,700 in the old, familiar rules); otherwise, a 30% allowance within a limit of €15,000 (down from 50% and €77,700).
Gîtes de France has since campaigned to raise the limits and protect its members from what have been dubbed the ‘anti-Airbnb’ laws.
In reality, said Solange Escure, managing director of Gîtes de France, the type of accommodation on its books bears little resemblance to that of Airbnb.
“Our biggest strength is that nearly all our members are locals who like having interaction with their guests,” she told The Connexion.
“We are effectively in a different market to the giant platforms like Airbnb and Booking, which are now used mainly by people who see renting out as a business without the same personal involvement.”
Read more: Further crackdown on tourist rentals under debate in France
What is Gîtes de France?
Since its creation in 1955, Gîtes de France has grown to the point where it has 42,000 gîte owners in France, who have 55,000 properties registered with the organisation.
It has become a small player in a holiday rental market which, thanks to web-based platforms such as Airbnb and Booking – one US-based and the other Dutch – saw 800,000 properties rented to tourists in 2021.
Registering with Gîtes de France costs at most €370 a year, including a listing on its website.
Bookings made through the platform are subject to commission. This varies from department to department but averages around 13%, said Ms Escure.
Local Gîtes de France branches also offer advice and carry out the free inspection required to join the association and secure the Gîtes de France label.
In addition, help can be given for things such as bank loan applications for gîte renovations – Gîtes de France can provide reliable information on the likely occupancy rate of the gîte and projected annual revenue.
Gîtes de France was set up by a senator for the then Basses-Alpes department (now Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), called Emile Aubert.
At the time, there were concerns about the widespread move of people from the countryside to towns and cities. Mr Aubert realised that many of the new town dwellers would welcome the chance to have relatively cheap holidays in the countryside, and that the empty houses left in the countryside could be maintained and converted to welcome them, bringing cash to rural areas.
Now only 13% of the association's members are farmers, with the rest mainly owners living in villages near their gîtes.
Its properties are divided into gîtes (usually country houses), chambres d’hôtes offering bed and breakfast accommodation, gîtes de group aimed at corporate events, gîtes for children, and gîtes organised for stays on touring holidays.
Read more: Chance to spend a night as a ‘lighthouse keeper’ on Brittany island
Future of Gîtes de France
Campsites and chalet grounds are also in the Gîtes de France network, along with ‘Citybreaks’, in which urban flats are rented out to holidaymakers.
Clients are 80% French, followed by Belgian, Dutch, German and UK holidaymakers.
“I am very confident with regards to the future of Gîtes de France,” said Ms Escure.
“We are not competing with the web platforms and are in our own market of rural holidays with owners close by.
“Our numbers are still significantly higher than they were before Covid, which shows that holidays in the countryside are still very attractive for many people.”
* To celebrate Gîtes de France’s 70th anniversary, a touring photo exhibition Ailleurs en France (Elsewhere in France)...with Gîtes de France is taking place.
It is being staged with partner the Only France® agency. From Réunion to Brittany, via Provence and the Jura Mountains, there are landscapes reminiscent of the Amazon, Cappadocia, and Polynesian lagoons. Twenty-one iconic photos and 13 snapshots of Gîtes de France® accommodations illustrate this unique diversity.
