French Resorts Expect Rush

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31864, 17 December 1968, Page 24

French Resorts Expect Rush

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter-*-Copy right) PARIS. French holiday resorts, full to bursting point, are bracing themselves for a big rush next year as a result of the Government’s clamp on overseas spending. , Most of the four million 'rench tourists who annually pend their summer holidays broad are expected to stay t home next year if the oreign travel allowance of bout $125 remains in force. This would bring the num-i >er of holidaymakers invadng French resorts to about !5 million. Not only the resorts but teveral Government departments have been goaded into action by the warning underlying the statement by the j Prime Minister (Mr Couve de ! Murville) to the National : Assembly. I “If Frenchmen must spend their holidays this year in their own country, they will be able to tell themselves that the harshness of the times will allow them to know their country better.” Officials shuddered at the though! of the overcrowding . of hotels and already inadequate beaches on some coasts, of prices rocketing as hoteliers reaped in the unexpected harvest, and of road casulties. already the subject of much Government anguish, mounting inexorably. TALKS HELD Talks have begun to find ways round the problems, at the heart of which is the French custom of taking the summer holiday in August. Nearly two-thirds of the [country takes its holidays in August. Half the economy is halted with 62 per cent of j all firms closed for the month. Experiments in two large industries to spread out the holiday season have failed but another one, started by a bank, appears to be more promising.

Under this system, those : taking their holidays out of . the summer period receive extra bonuses and days off. These are calculated on a sliding scale with those . taking their holidays in December receiving, for ex-| ample, more compensation I than those taking them in March. Money for the bonuses is: saved from the economies j achieved through not having' to employ temporary staff. Another problem is the! habit of many Frenchmen of) taking their holidays bn the'

Riviera. To counteract thisl a campaign is to be waged,, with the use of television, to promote other beauty spots. ) Local tourist associations) are also holding their own! campaigns, based mainly on I j poster advertising in railway ) stations. | NEW ROAD SYSTEM ! To speed up travel, the' i Government is planning a )new system of expressways—existing roads which will be (classed somewhere between j motorways and ordinary highways. ' These will probably be

'closed to heavy traffic and [slow-moving vehicles. The [National Assembly has [already approved the scheme. | Plans are going ahead to [establish 100,000 more campling places. While the majority of holidaymakers arc absorbed by boarding houses, camping sites and villas. : hotels are thinking of adding 5000 rooms to the existing •340.000. [j As for prices, a system has [! already been drawn up for tight control based on inspec- ( tions in all holiday resorts.