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TOURISM

How much more expensive is it to holiday in France this summer?

Inflation is pushing up prices around Europe, so how much more expensive will a holiday in France be this summer?

Published: 16 June 2023 16:59 CEST
How much more expensive is it to holiday in France this summer?
A woman lays down on her towl on the beach of the Mediterranean city of Port-la-Nouvelle, southern France, on July 12, 2022. (Photo by Valentine CHAPUIS / AFP)

France is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. In 2022, France welcomed 66.6 million international visitors, and tourists spent at record levels – shelling out over €58 billion, €1.2 billion higher than the pre-pandemic tourist spend.

Despite the tourism rebound, inflation has caused prices to rise, leaving many to wonder whether a trip to France will be out of budget this year. 

Overall, inflation in France is expected to stand at an average of 5.5 percent in 2023, before it begins to slow down to 2.5 percent in 2024. 

Based on INSEE data, consumer prices rose by 5.1 percent when comparing May 2023 and May 2022 – meaning that travel in France this summer will likely be more expensive than last year, but certain things are more impacted than others.

Accommodation

Naturally, prices vary according to where you go, but price differences vary too – according to Tour magazine some places less expensive than they were in 2019 – for example in Lille prices are 9 percent down on pre-pandemic levels.

However, both Paris and Lyon were almost a third more expensive than prior to the pandemic.

The head of the office of tourism for Paris, Corinne Menegaux, told AFP that prices for standard hotel stays have “increased by 29 percent in four years”, averaging at €189 per night in 2023. 

However, peak season pricing in France’s capital is known to run higher than that – the Trivago hotel business blog estimated that average prices during the summer of 2023 for Paris hotels could be around €295 per night for a double room. 

Le Figaro reports that more French tourists are opting for Normandy and Brittany this year, and the private rental website Abritel found that searches for accommodation in these areas rose by 25 percent in 2023.

Xavier Rousselou, a spokesperson for Abritel explained to Le Figaro that “this trend can be explained by inflation and the reduction in household budgets, because prices [in Brittany and Normandy] are 30 to 50 percent cheaper than on the Mediterranean coast.”

Restaurants and food/ drink

In December 2022, almost 6 out of every 10 restaurant owners said they increased their prices that year due to inflation, according to a survey by OpinionWay. Of those restaurant owners, 46 percent said they were already considering having to charge customers more in 2023.

As of May 2023, AFP reported that food inflation was 14.3 percent higher than in May 2022, but that by December it would likely decrease to 7.4 percent. 

About three quarters of restaurant owners told OpinionWay that, as of 2022, they expected the average customer would spend somewhere between €15 and €35, with almost half of that group expecting customers to spend between €15 to €20 per person while eating out. Service is included in that price. 

READ MORE: ‘We tip less in France than in the US’ – readers reveal who they tip, and how much

According to the French site 60 millions de consommateurs, as of May 2023, three products saw higher than 20 percent price increases when compared with May 2022: sugar and sweeteners (23.2 percent), frozen meat (21.7 percent), and butter and crème fraîche (20.9 percent). 

Planes, trains and cars

Fuel costs in France began decreasing in March 2023 and have somewhat stabilised between May and June. As of mid-June, the average cost per litre for SP-98 was €1.93; SP-95 was €1.89; E10 was €1.85 and diesel was about €1.70 per litre, according to Le Figaro. 

However, when compared with the summer of 2022, when the fuel rebate of 30-cents-per-litre was applied, the average price of SP-95 fuel was €2.10, which dropped down to €1.80 for consumers with the help of the rebate.

One change has been the cost of tolls on the autoroutes – in February, there was an average increase of 4.75 percent when compared with the year previous. As such, this summer, you may see your toll costs increase slightly while driving in France. You can estimate how much your road trip in France will cost in terms of toll expenses using the website SANEF.

For those travelling by train, average ticket costs have also increased when compared with the summer of 2022. In January, France’s national rail service, citing rising costs due to energy prices, announced that tickets would go up on average nationally by five percent. 

If you are travelling by rental car, there may be some relief from summer of 2022. According to Ouest France, while car rental prices were still higher than prior to the pandemic in June 2023, the average cost of a week’s rental – approximately €332 – during peak summer months had gone down by 10 percent when compared with 2022. 

And finally, you can expect your long-haul flight to and from France to be more expensive during the summer of 2023.

According to Le Monde, medium-haul flights were up by 39.2 percent, and long-haul flights were up by 43.4 percent in 2023 when compared to May 2022.

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ECONOMY

S&P downgrades French credit rating in blow to Macron

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded France's credit score on Friday citing a deterioration in the country's budgetary position, a blow to Emmanuel Macron's government days before EU parliamentary elections.

Published: 1 June 2024 15:44 CEST
S&P downgrades French credit rating in blow to Macron

In a statement, the American credit assessor justified its decision to drop France’s long-term sovereign debt rating from “AA” to “AA-” on concerns over lower-than-expected growth.

It warned that “political fragmentation” would make it difficult for the government to implement planned reforms to balance public finances and forecast the budget deficit would remain above the targeted three percent of GDP in 2027.

The S&P’s first downgrade of France since 2013 puts the EU’s second-largest economy on par with the Czech Republic and Estonia but above Spain and Italy.

The announcement will sting for Macron, who has staked a reputation as an economic reformer capable of restoring France’s accounts after low growth and high spending.

The risk of a ratings downgrade had been looming for several quarters, with the previous “AA” assessment given a “negative outlook”.

The surprise slippage in the public deficit for 2023 to 5.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) instead of the expected 4.9 percent did not play in the government’s favour.

France’s general government debt will increase to about 112 percent of GDP by 2027, up from around 109 percent in 2023, “contrary to our previous expectations”, the agency added.

Responding to the downgrade decision, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire reaffirmed the government’s commitment to slashing the public deficit to below three percent by 2027.

“Our strategy remains the same: reindustrialise, achieve full employment and keep to our trajectory to get back under the three percent deficit in 2027,” he said in an interview with newspaper Le Parisien, insisting that nothing would change in the daily lives of the French.

Le Maire claimed the downgrade was primarily driven by the government’s abundant spending during the Covid pandemic to provide a lifeline to businesses and French households.

The main reason for the downgrade was because “we saved the French economy,” he said.

Government critics offered a different rationale.

“This is where the pitiful management of public finances by the Macron/Le Maire duo gets us!” Eric Ciotti, head of the right-wing Republicans party, wrote on social media platform X.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen called the Macron administration’s handling of public finances “catastrophic” and denounced the government as being “as incompetent as they are arrogant”.

A credit downgrade risks putting off investors and making it more difficult to pay off debt.

Earlier this year, influential ratings agencies Moody’s and Fitch spared handing France a lower note.

S&P also maintained its “stable” outlook for France on Friday on “expectations that real economic growth will accelerate and support the government’s budgetary consolidation”, albeit not enough to bring down its high debt-to-GDP ratio.

“S&P’s downgrading of France’s debt simply reflects an imperative that we are already aware of: the need to continue restoring our public finances,” Public Accounts Minister Thomas Cazenave wrote in a statement sent to AFP.

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