Hobbies. Has the coastline that runs from Havre to Étretat benefited from a postponement of stays by holidaymakers, in search of powder snow or sunny destinations? Rentals have increased. It is more contrasted among hoteliers.
The closure of the ski lifts could lead one to think that Parisians, on vacation since mid-February, would massively postpone their intentions to stay on the Normandy coast. And invest the ocean city to Étretat. However, no tidal wave was observed by the tourist office.
“We did not see a particular rush of inquiries from our offices, analysis Benoît Remy, director of the Le Havre Étretat Normandie tourist office. Searching for accommodation is done massively online on booking platforms. But, once the holidaymakers were there, we saw a few more people inquire at the tourist office since our reopening on February 5, especially since many structures are closed. “
A single hotel open in Étretat
Rental accommodation, type lodges, seem to have benefited from a comforting affluence. The 600 to 650 Sineromarine lodges with the Gîtes de France label recorded an occupancy rate of 57% in February, compared to 31% in February 2020. “ It is an extraordinary month of February since it exceeds that of the previous three years and we are still taking reservations, summarizes Christelle Leblanc, director of the Gîtes de France Seine-Maritime relay. Across the Department, we are recording 2,000 nights of reservations that are higher than what we have been able to achieve for three years. “
Obviously, on the hotel side, the results are mixed. Some have chosen not to reopen. “Our establishments in Étretat and Honfleur are closed, notes Didier Lassarat, owner of Vent d’Ouest in Le Havre, Les Pins de César in Saint-Jouin Buneval and Les maisons de Léa in Honfleur. A new containment seemed inevitable and the “stop-and-go” is very difficult to manage. In addition, the customer experience, deprived of catering, did not seem to us to be up to what we want to offer. Only our establishment in Le Havre has reopened since the end of the second confinement. The spa works there very well, but the hotel is only halfway, mainly with a Parisian clientele. “
In Étretat, the only hotel currently open, the Donjon, has benefited from an improvement. “Our hotel business was extremely strong during Valentine’s Day, which this year took place the same weekend as the Parisians went on vacation, recalls Omar Abodib, owner of the Dungeon. This upsurge in bookings continued the following week, 20% higher than last year. Our clientele is mainly Parisian, with some reservations from Le Havre, Rouennais and Calvadosiens. “
Transfer from the mountain to the coast
The type of clientele changes. “ So far, the three regions bordering Normandy (Île-de-France, Hauts-de-France and Center-Val-de-Loire) were in the majority, explains Benoît Remy. However, other regions (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Grand Est) are now represented, admittedly modestly, but the Parisians are no longer overwhelmingly present. “ The Normans, who have just entered on vacation, can still inflate the statistics.
“This transfer from the mountains to the coast, in view of the number of visitors to our information offices, is not at all obvious, whether in Le Havre or in Étretat. But if for the Ile-de-France clientele, the postponement of stays is not significant, that does not mean that for the Normandy clientele, it will not be ”, concludes Benoît Remy.
Eléonora Hurillon-Ajzenman
New trends
The lodges, with a capacity of four to fifteen people, are widely acclaimed this year. “We have asked our members to commit to signing a health charter, with the assurance of offering a healthy environment”, specifies Christelle Leblanc, director of the Gîtes de France Seine-Maritime relay. The guest rooms, however more intimate, fell sharply in February, penalized by the closure of restaurants. It is mainly families or couples who book, sometimes at the last minute, for short stays. “On school holidays, we are used to taking full weeks. But we are receiving more and more requests for mid-weekends, four-day stays ”, adds Christelle Leblanc.
In the absence of a foreign clientele coming from Belgium, United Kingdom and the Netherlands, it is exclusively nationals who are present, mainly Ile-de-France residents, Northerners and Normans. “The interregional displacement of the Normans is a phenomenon which is accentuated this year”, she continues. Holidaymakers from the south of the Loire are even starting to appear. “Seine-Maritime offers large spaces and open nature with the coastline, which allow you to relax without going very far. Le Havre-Étretat is the most attractive area of the Department. Then, the Seine valley, followed by the Rouen region, the Pays de Caux and the Pays de Bray which are doing well this year ”.
Reservations are increasingly made at the last moment. “Holidaymakers know that there is room everywhere”, judge Benoît Remy, director of the Le Havre Étretat Normandy tourist office.
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