The hotel market should be dynamic in 2023 and 2024, after an already “very good” year in 2022, a trend supported by major sporting events, according to the annual study by the KPMG firm on the French hotel industry, presented on Tuesday.
“The year 2023 will be a continuation of 2022, even if we had unfavorable weather at the start of summer, the French clientele was present and the international market was even more present,” notes Stéphane Botz, KPMG hotel expert. This summer, North and South American travelers returned (5% in July, 8% in August), as did those from Asia-Pacific (81% in July and August). Several factors, including the resumption of business tourism, favorable weather and the Rugby World Cup, should extend the season until the All Saints’ Day holidays, according to the firm. On business tourism, “we see the gradual return to interesting performance levels” even if “there are always fewer trips”, estimates Stéphane Botz.
For 2024 and 2025, despite headwinds such as inflation, weather phenomena, or budget reductions, KPMG expects the sector to reach “a plateau”, helped by the Olympics and “the overmediatization of the France destination which creates a form of attractiveness over the year following the event. By 2026, 125 new hotel projects have been identified, or some 16,000 rooms, according to the study.
In the budget hotel segment “the pattern is a little different. There is a form of impoverishment among a part of the population who cannot afford to travel to high-cost places.” According to KPMG, one of the answers are “hostels”, establishments halfway between youth hostels and hotels offering dormitories and single rooms with neat common areas, which are developing in France (32 new hostels in six years ). “Economic hotels are often on the outskirts of the city and meet a need for transit. Hostels meet a need for experience in accommodation close to the city center,” notes Stéphane Botz. Considering the interest of investors in this concept, and the higher number of hostels in other European countries, the author of the study estimates that there are “too few” in France, with around forty establishments currently, and therefore sees growth potential in this segment.