Informe semanal de noticias del mercado francés de la Oficina de Turismo de Tenerife en París

NOTICIA DESTACADA:

The evolution of e-tourism for travel agencies

The tourism-related economic situation is now in a favourable position despite the bankruptcies that have just marked the month of September. The figures for the leisure sector speak for themselves: the departure rate reached a record high in 2018 with 66% of French people aged 15 and over leaving, or 35.5 million French people. «this 79% level of e-tourists forces all players to have an omnichannel presence with high-performance customer relationship management. Then perceptions are diverse: for 26% of agencies this is a disadvantage, for 30% it is indifferent. But what is becoming interesting is the 44% who perceive this prior online preparation as an advantage. They provide an opportunity to demonstrate the added value of the agency to clients who need reassurance after an initial phase of autonomous preparation. Overinformation, with its corollary of overchoice, often leads to a stressful situation that agents use to enhance their expertise.» Quotidien du Tourisme

  • Tourism industry and Competitors news

What is the outcome of the first edition of the Salon des grands voyages?

The meeting was held on 11 and 12 October at the Carrousel du Louvre, in the first arrondissement of Paris. The Salon des grands voyages, a public event dedicated to «beautiful and premium trips», was organised for the first time this year. And the niche seems to have potential since this edition brought together 68 exhibitors and received 3042 visits, lists Comexposium, the organizer. «The mostly positive feedback from exhibitors reinforces the relevance of the positioning of this event, which brought together an informed, passionate and travel-friendly public,» the press release details. Tour Hebdo

France: the target of 100 million foreign tourists postponed to 2022

The document dedicated to tourism policy in the context of the draft finance law for 2020 highlights the fact that «the indicators for the first months of 2019 show a decrease in international tourist numbers for the first half of the year». «This trend is largely due to the national social movements that largely affected the country at the beginning of the year and had an impact on medium- and long-term bookings, as well as the effects of the decline in the pound, the United Kingdom being our main tourist market,» it is pointed out. Echo Touristique

  • Aviation news

Who is Air Belgium, the new Belgian company that wants to seduce the French?

Officially created in 2016, the Belgian company will open its own first line to Martinique and Guadeloupe on 7 December. To start its operations, it will rely on 4 long-haul aircraft, A340-300s, and on its base in Brussels-Charleroi, which is currently undergoing renovation. After the end of XL Airways flights, the French public may well be seduced. Without XL, no company above Paris-Orly would serve the French West Indies directly. «It’s a boulevard that can open up for us,» says Philippe Wilmart, Air Belgium’s sales director. TourMag

The European Parliament for protection against airline bankruptcies

Following the gigantic bankruptcy of Thomas Cook, the European Parliament is now calling for better protection for travellers. The resolution also requires protection of customers’ money for airlines. With this in mind, the European Parliament now supports the inclusion of protection against insolvency and bankruptcy of airlines in the Regulation. In concrete terms, Parliament proposes that, in future, airlines should be required to secure funds for flights already paid for in advance by customers but not yet carried out via guarantee funds or insurance contracts. An addition could be included in the regulation, according to a resolution recently adopted in Strasbourg. La Quotidienne

  • Tour operators and travel agents news

Thomas Cook France: offer grouped around Havas Voyages to take over agencies

In groups to save more jobs. Havas Voyages has made a joint offer with four other candidates to take over a large part of Thomas Cook France’s travel agencies, says its owner in Le Figaro to be published on Wednesday. According to the daily, there are five of them in total – Havas Voyages, the Sainte Claire group, Salaün Holidays, Karavel and Le Vacon – and they would take over about a hundred travel agencies. «We met to make a stronger offer. It is a solidarity offer, in which we propose to save almost all the jobs,» Laurent Abitbol, president of the Lyon-based Marietton group, owner of Havas Voyages, told Le Figaro. «If we win, most agencies will switch to the Havas brand. We hope to take over the business. We are not interested in the Thomas Cook France brand,» he added. Le Monde

How travel distribution in France and Spain is booming 

If some TOs are suffering, and if we obviously remove the recent industrial accident of the British giant and its French subsidiary Thomas Cook, travel distribution seems to be in great shape. In France, Havas Voyages, one of the largest integrated networks with some 330 travel agencies (and franchisees), is considering increasing its market share through independent sellers. In Spain, two major operators are considering merging to create a giant in tourism distribution. Jean-Pierre Mas nevertheless seems to believe in the formula. He reportedly indicated: «Uberisation makes it possible to replace some of the employees by self-employed entrepreneurs who freely choose their working time and the company for which they work». La Quotidienne

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