The annual travel market report of French tour operators has been published by the Union of Tour Operators (SETO). The findings show that throughout 2015 the amount of sold tour packages decreased by 3.1%. The report covers the period from Nov 1, 2014 to Oct 31, 2015.
According to the findings of the barometer French TOs had more than 6 million clients over the period, which is a decline of 5.3 % compared to the 2014 data. The total revenue amounted to EUR 4,670 million, which is a decrease of 6.4%.
The amount of package tours also went down, by 3.1% (3,940 440 customers). Nevertheless, the average revenue per package tour increased slightly by 0.7 % (EUR 1,023) which is good news for the French travel market.
The biggest decline in bookings (-4.4 %) was recorded for medium-haul destinations (2,357,335 clients) followed by long-haul destinations with 815,343 clients (-4.2%). Domestic tours, on the other hand, recorded an increase of +2.6% (767,762 clients) achieving a total revenue of EUR 399 million (+ 0.1%).
According to the travel market report, tours to Spain came in second place with 717,005 clients (+14.3%), followed by Greece with 407,949 clients (+8.9%). Other destinations that grew in popularity among French travelers were Cuba (+47.2%), Cyprus (+44.1%), and Japan (+40.9%).
On the other hand, Senegal (-65.5 %), Indonesia (-20.0%), the Bahamas (-17.1%), Tunisia (-51.6%), Turkey (-38.8%), and Morocco (-30.3%) recorded a considerable decline in the amount of sold tours.