Summer 2018 in the mountains

At the end of September, what data have you collected?

To date, for all mountain ranges combined, we have seen a slight fall of 0.7 points in rental income with an occupancy rate of 51.3% over the eight weeks corresponding to the summer holidays, compared to 52% in 2017. The season kicked off late in July, with a combination of structural (in the long term, the holiday exodus is concentrated in August) and cyclical (the Football World Cup) factors that have impacted activity. In contrast, occupancy rates for August are on a par with some of the most successful years, with 76% occupancy and 78% for the weeks of 4 and 11 August, the densest in the summer period.

Other than the shift from July to August, has 2018 confirmed any other major trends?

Yes, notably the fragmentation of stays, which are becoming shorter as a result of the new approach to holiday leave: nowadays, people go away for short periods, but more frequently. This phenomenon is forcing operators to step up their efforts to renew their customer base and manage more frequent rotations. To go back to the calendar analysis, we can also see a surge in the late autumn, particularly the last week of August which is becoming more popular, as well as September: the Indian summer in the mountains seems to hold great appeal!

This summer, the headlines reported an increased interest in mountain regions due to the heatwave. What are your thoughts on this?

The statistics for the resorts do not provide concrete proof of this ‘heatwave effect’. But empirical findings have shown higher traffic levels in the foothill areas due to increased flows, generated by tourists looking for cooler climates. That said, for high altitude and intermediate altitude regions, what I think will boost summer tourist numbers in the future is the development of new activities, such as electric bicycles, which will enhance the attractiveness of the mountains, particularly among tourists less interested in physically strenuous activities. The economic model in the mountain regions remains too centred on winter sports. Yet the summer is also vital for the future, for both economic – the additional volumes linked to the summer period are far from negligible – and socials reasons – it is in everyone’s interest, operators and communities alike, to breathe life into mountain tourism all year round.

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