FRENCH TOURIST INDUSTRY

Press, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 27169, 13 October 1953, Page 7

FRENCH TOURIST INDUSTRY

COMPETITION CUTS PROFITS FEWER VISITS BY BRITONS (- Tom the London Correspondent of “The LONDON, September 28. The cold winds of competition have started to blow along the gilded coastline of southern France. At resorts on the Riviera, the Cote d’Azur and at inns and hotels throughout France hotelkeepers have been reporting fewer visitors and decreasing profits. The recent general strike of French public services at the height of the tourist season rush meant a further heavy loss of tourist earnings which cost the country some millions of pounds in sterling and dollars. French hotelkeepers recall sadly the lush days of the immediate post-war tourist seasons. In spite of their meagre travel allowance, British then flocked across the Channel to sample the delights of unrationed food and sunshine after the war time austerity of Britain. Many of them returned to England sadly after a few short weeks of high prices and a multitude of State taxes, travellers’ taxes and* “le service” (tips) that added another 20 to 25 per cent, on to their hotel bills, but France still retained its position as the British holidaymakers’ favourite Continental country.

Since then, prices have kept on climbing in France and the “20 per cents for extras” have increased. British tourists on summer holidays have turned to Spain and Italy for cheap holidays and now that German resorts are opening with new luxury hotels, the authorities who watch over France’s tourist industry are worried men.

To lure back British travellers, thousands of hotels and boarding

houses throughout France have adopted the inclusive system of tariffs officially introduced by the Minister of Tourism this year. “Tout compris” is a sign that is gradually spreading through hotels in France, and now, instead of receiving a bill with a second supplementary bill for various taxes and tips, guests are presented with one inclusive account. The scheme is popular with English travellers, according to the Ministry of Tourism, and although the de luxe hotels and expensive restaurants have not adopted the “all-in” tariff and continue to present a bill of multiple charges, the sponsors are confident that they will follow within a few years.

The French Government’s campaign “to keep the British tourists happy” is based on the cold facts presented in its records of foreigners entering their country. More than a third of tourists aged from 15 to 30 who enter France are British while 40 per cent, of those aged 30 to 60 are British. Americans and Belgians are the sceond and third most numerous tourists.

Tourist industry officials are also touring resorts trying to persuade restaurant owners and hotelkeepers to simplify their table of charges. Mysterious cover charges and extras printed in small letters at the bottom of menus are one of the “sharp practices” that the authorities have found that British tourists particularly resent, although this trick is By no means uncommon in England. When these “irritations” have been suppressed and prices settle on a basis to compete with other Continental countries, the French are confident that their country will ..regain her position as the first choice of the British tourist on holiday on the Continent.