While the Côte d’Azur has been a “must” for summer holidays for decades, it has also become a top tourist destination for the late autumn season.
November, which was considered the most “quiet” month around twenty years ago, has seen a significant increase in tourism. The share of this single month in the total annual hotel and residence arrivals rose from 3.6% in 1993 to 5.5% in 2007, the largest observed increase. As a result, while 40% of hotels were closed for at least part of November in 1993, only 33% do so now.
The crisis temporarily disrupted this long-term trend, reducing the share of this month to 4.8% in 2010 (and probably 4.6% in 2011). Nevertheless, with an increase of 1 point between 1993 and 2011, November remains the only month, along with the June-July period, to have increased its share of annual arrivals. The months that lost the most were August, April-May, and January. The lowest attendance period has thus shifted from mid-November to mid-December or mid-January.
Various factors can explain these changes. The fragmentation of vacation departure periods, with the rise of short stays, has worked against the “traditional” periods, notably the peak summer month. Business tourism has also generated additional demand in March and October-November.
However, the climate factor should not be overlooked. With temperatures now remaining very mild in November, and even until mid-December, the Côte d’Azur has become very attractive during this period when the cold sets in across Central and Northern Europe. Tourist practices will sooner or later align with climate change, and the extension of the “Indian summer” on the Côte d’Azur may be one of the first signs of this.
OCCUPIED ACCOMMODATIONS AT 40%
The total number of air travel stays increased by 15%, reaching a new record for this month, close to 160,000 stays, after the previous record in November 2000. However, the length of stay has decreased slightly, averaging 6.3 nights, compared to 6.6 last year.
The average stay length in November has reached two nights again, which hadn’t happened since 2001.
Among the main foreign markets sending tourists to the Côte d’Azur in November, the strong presence of Italian and British travelers remains evident, followed by Germans and Americans. Russians rank fifth, while Asians (including China and Japan) account for nearly one in ten foreign tourists.
