Britons jostle with Germans for Channel tourism

British holidaymakers are returning to the Channel coast “in droves”, according to tourism experts, after a downturn in numbers following Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Britons have made up the largest contingent of foreign tourists this year in both the Pas-de-Calais department of Hauts-de-France and the city of Saint-Malo (Brittany), two areas where they are more numerous than German visitors.

Britons return to Pas-de-Calais

They booked 310,000 nights in Pas-de-Calais in June alone, building on already high figures in April and May.

A third more visited the department over the weekend of May 8-10 than in 2025, contributing substantially to an overall 7% increase in international visitors during this period.

Easter saw a 33% increase in British visits there, as did Whitsun weekend (May 23-25), during which they booked the greatest number of nights, ahead of Belgian and German tourists, in second and third places.

In an effort to lure more Britons to the area, Le Touquet (Pas-de-Calais) launched a ‘French Week’ over the spring bank holiday week (May 25-31) – a programme of cultural, sporting and gastronomic events delivered in English. Organisers plan to hold it again in the first week of June 2027.

“British people are coming back in droves,” said Pas-de-Calais Tourisme marketing officer Marion Harmel.

Remembrance tourism related to World War One and the Geopark Transmanche – a cross-Channel project bringing together more than 45 special geological sites in northern France and Kent – are among two reasons given for the renewed interest.

“It really feels like the connection has been re-established,” she said.

Saint-Malo sees British tourists rise

In Saint-Malo, Britons now rank first among international tourists (24%), dethroning Germans (17%) for the first time in four years and rising from a low of 7% in 2021. The opening of a new ferry route in 2025 is one of the main reasons cited by Lisa Fonlupt, of the Saint-Malo tourist office.

Saint-Malo is connected to Portsmouth and the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey via services from Brittany Ferries and DFDS.

In 2025, Brittany Ferries opened a direct route from Guernsey to Saint-Malo, cancelling its former service, which also stopped in Jersey. It shaved 75 minutes off the travel time, facilitating more day trips between Saint-Malo and Guernsey.

“The town has always looked towards the sea for conquest and commerce, something that resonates with British people and residents of Guernsey and Jersey,” Ms Fonlupt said.

Germany still leads in some areas

France’s Channel coast suffered a marked decline in British tourists after Brexit and the pandemic.

Céline Thoumazeau, of the Comité régional du tourisme de Bretagne, said: “Britons now hold second place, behind the Germans, illustrating the profound reshaping of the region’s international tourism markets.”

Brittany is now back at pre-Covid figures, she said, but pre-Brexit numbers have yet to return.

She referred to the years before the referendum as the “golden age of British tourism in the region”.

Normandy is seeing similar trends, according to data compiled by Normandie Tourisme.

German tourists booked a total of 4,292,400 overnight stays in Normandy in 2025, slightly ahead of British travellers, with 4,175,600.

They even top Britons in the Manche department, despite the D-Day beaches and Mont Saint-Michel being traditional British and US tourist hotspots, said Marie Meignan of Attitude Manche, which compiles tourism data for the area.

Kommissar Dupin, a German TV show broadcast in 40 countries, goes some way towards explaining why Germans are so enamoured of Brittany and surrounding areas.

It follows a French policeman transferred from Paris to Concarneau, which affords plenty of opportunity to show off the local Finistère landscape.

Tourism bodies hope for further growth

While some experts see no indication that Germans will lose their number one spot along the Channel coast, Ms Harmel and Ms Fonlupt are more hopeful that British tourism will continue to bounce back.

Ms Fonlupt said: “My take is that – British people being resilient – they re-learn how to travel.”

Tourism offices are currently working on ways to persuade Britons to spend longer in the area, rather than simply travelling through.

However, data collection to help their efforts is proving difficult.

“There is no way to measure if they stop by a bar or visit a museum,” Ms Thoumazeau said.

“As soon as the boat docks, many simply hit the road for homes elsewhere in France.”

Ms Fonlupt said they are sometimes even driving down to Spain.

“It’s weird. Saint-Malo was fortified to protect itself from English invaders. And yet, today, we are waiting for them to come back.”