Hotels slash prices in bid to kick-start ailing tourist trade
Hotels have had to slash prices by up to half to woo visitors as fears of terror attacks, strikes and Paris flooding saw tourist numbers slump.
Paris and the Côte d’Azur have been particularly badly hit and last month hotel comparison site Trivago said room rates were down as much as 50% from typical seasonal prices.
The trend is set to continue this month as Trivago’s historic records show prices falling over the festive period.
Market analysts STR say Paris hotel room occupancy was down 12.4% to 69.1% in the first nine months of this year.
Bargain-hunters were finding rooms an average of 15% cheaper last month – and 17% in the capital – with some hotels offering even higher discounts.
Room deals may not be enough to lure even French people back, as many eye the better euro/pound rate boosting spending power for those opting to raid London’s shops.
Meanwhile, Ile-de-France region has launched a €23million plan to bring visitors back with proposals for a ‘city pass’ single ticket for public transport and entry to major attractions.
The plan also includes recruiting 200 English-speaking students and for police offices to be set up at tourist sites.
Ile-de-France businesses are said to have lost €1billion this year with the likes of Crazy Horse and the Moulin-Rouge seeing 20-25% fewer customers.
Other European countries are also feeling the pinch but not to the same extent – with price falls averaging 2%. In the UK, summer hotel prices fell by an average of 20% and London saw empty hotel rooms rise 4%.
Last month the average price of a double standard room in France was €118, €21 down on November 2015. Nice, which suffered in the Bastille Day attack, saw prices slide 15% with rooms at an average of €136 as against €160 in October.
The European football championships gave some breathing space – hotels in the 10 towns hosting games raised prices by around 35% – but not enough.
Thomas Emanuel, STR business development director, said: “The European football did not quite provide the boost expected for Paris, so it’s quite clear the most important factor in the market’s recovery will be time.”
He did not expect Paris to rebound until the second half of 2017 – heavily dependent on having no more terror scares.
With events such as the hotel attack on TV star Kim Kardashian plus 1,500 soldiers on the capital’s streets the security atmosphere is still heavy.
However, Christmas is coming – and Strasbourg has seen a slight improvement, with a 5% rise in room rates.
