The European Union gives the green light to American tourists, even unvaccinated. To boost economic and tourist attractiveness, the EU is reopening the floodgates, but will the Americans be there this summer in France, Greece or Italy? For the moment, many are still hesitant to cross the Atlantic. But for Caroline Lebucher, general manager of the Atout France agency, invited Thursday from Europe 1; No need to worry: travelers have become accustomed to booking at the last minute.
“There will be ‘worry, but people are going to leave”
Before the pandemic, she traveled to Europe almost every summer. She promises to return in 2021, but not immediately. “At first I was impatient, but I’m worried about the Delta variant, so I’ll wait. I don’t feel ready enough yet.” Like her, Americans are torn between the desire to return abroad and the desire not to take any risks.
Blake Fleetwood runs a travel agency and sees this thrill. “We have sold twenty tickets for two days for France, Germany and Italy,” he says at the microphone of Europe 1. “There are more and more requests, people have been locked up for a year, they have money, a lot of savings and they want to spend it. There will be concerns but people will leave “, he continues, hoping to regain 70 to 80% of his activity this summer.
“High contribution” tourists
“Usually, we have more than 4 million American tourists who come to France”, explains Caroline Leboucher, guest of Europe 1, Thursday. Adding that American tourists represented some 3.4 billion euros in revenue in 2019, the director general of the Atout France agency, responsible for promoting the destination France, refers to tourists “with a high contribution”, extremely popular with professionals tourism.
But will they be there and where will they mainly go? Caroline Leboucher is optimistic: “On the various markets, in France, in Europe or on the long-haul markets, travelers have become accustomed to booking at the last minute,” she explains. “For Americans, who particularly appreciate Europe or France, reservations are being taken now for this summer, and for the fall as well, which is showing up very well on the American market.
As for the preferred destinations, these are the most popular destinations for our American friends, continues Caroline Leboucher. “Paris of course, but also the south of France, and the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region. “
–
