River tourism in France in 2007

River tourism
in France in 2007
direction du
Développement
thema
Summary
paper
T
his is a condensed summary of the seventh edition of the annual review of river
tourism in France.
This research work was carried out by the national river tourism watchdog (RNOTF)
with the assistance of the Regional Tourism Boards and the river tourism professionals.
Year after year, the surveys conducted by the RNOTF build up a knowledge base that
offers a dynamic overview of developments in the sector and which is widely available to enable stakeholders to promote their businesses.
The 7th edition of the annual river tourism review offers extensive information on the
various sectors that make up the professional pleasure boating business, divided into
the different regions. It also focuses on private pleasure craft and lock passages.
The data presented here are based on a survey of over 300 sector professionals
between November 2007 and February 2008.
In 2007, there were 363 river tourism businesses in France and 2,315 boats. While
the hotel barge and day trip boat activity is growing, the rental of house boats and
river cruisers is relatively stable.
Key figures 2007
Hire
Day trip boats
Hotel barges
River cruisers
Operators
68
217
69
9
Fleet
1,838
363
89
25
Places available
-
45,900
1,227
3,379
House boat rental
Number of rental contracts by region in 2007 and
evolution 2007/2006
Carte 2. 3 Nombre de contrats vendus en 2007 et taux d’évolution du nombre de contrats entre 2007 et 2006
The offer 2007
LORRAINE
CHAMPAGNEARDENNE
ALSACE
BRETAGNE
PAYS DE LA LOIRE
CENTRE
BOURGOGNE
Main results for the 2007 season
The 2007 season was stable compared to 2006 (+ 0.3% in
the number of contracts sold compared to 2006 and + 0.0%
in the number of passengers carried compared to 2006). The
foreign clientele was very present this year (good economic
conditions in Germany, Rugby World Cup, etc.). Professionals
noticed that the season was more spread out across the year,
partly thanks to the dates of the bank holidays which meant
there were a number of long weekends. Moreover, the weather
during the early-season was very pleasant, in particular with an
extremely summery April.
Languedoc-Roussillon and Burgundy remain the two major
regions of the market (over 50% of the activity).
FRANCHE-COMTE
POITOU-CHARENTES
AUVERGNE
AQUITAINE
MIDI-PYRENEES
LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON
Taux d’évolution du nombre de
contrats entre 2007 et 2006
20%
10%
Changes in the number of rental customers from
2003 to 2007
Nombre de contrats de location en 2007
0%
10 620
- 4%
7 030
Bourgogne
Absence de diffusion des résultats
3 790
2 100
300
Lorraine
Aquitaine
Champagne-Ardenne
Absence de location
210000
Main results for the 2007 season
190000
2007
Evolution
2007/2006
127
+ 0.8%
1,838
- 0.3%
30.4
- 3.5%
Total number of contracts
34,000
+ 0.3%
Number of French contracts
10,900
- 0.9%
Number of foreign contracts
23,100
+ 0.9%
269
+ 0.0%
170000
150000
130000
Number of active bases
110000
Number of vessels in activity
90000
Period of activity of a base (weeks)
70000
50000
30000
10000
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
The French are still the leading houseboat rental customers,
accounting for over a third of all contracts. The Germans lost 2
points of market share compared to 2006. There is an increasing
American and Australian, but also Spanish and Italian clientele.
2
Languedoc-Roussillon
Number of contracts per rental base
Number of contracts by boat
18.5
+ 0.5%
159,000
+ 0.0%
Number of permanent jobs
420
+ 5.0 %
Number of seasonal jobs
350
+ 0.0%
Number of passengers carried
avecPhilcarto
Philcarto http://philgeo.club.fr
Map producedFait
using
- copyright VNF
In 2007, the active fleet (boats actually put into service
during the season) was 1,838 boats at 127 rental bases. Hirers
are continuing to modernise their vessels in order to better
meet the demands of their customers. 59% of the fleet is
operated by national rental operators (62% in 2006).
The sector generates about 770 jobs.
Of these 127 bases, more than two thirds own
between 1 and 18 boats. Only 8% of the bases offer
more than 34 boats.
Day trip boats
The offer 2007
In 2007, the active fleet of regular cruise boats involved
217 companies and 363 boats, providing almost 45,900
seats. There were around 10 new companies created.
Number of passengers carried by region in 2007 and
evolution 2007/2006
Carte Nombre de passagers transportés en bateaux promenade en 2007
et son taux d’évolution entre 2007 et 2006
NORD-PAS-DE-CALAIS
203 900
HAUTE-NORMANDIE
Changes in the number of passengers from
2003 to 2007
54 900
LORRAINE
147 500
7 475 000
192 800
PAYS DE LA LOIRE
123 300
CENTRE
300 300
RHONE-ALPES
MIDI-PYRENEES
214 200
Rate
of change
between
2006
Taux
d’évolution
entre2007
2007and
et 2006
124%
30%
12 000 000
876 000
ALSACE +
bateaux étrangers
15%
Number
passengers
in 2007
Nombreof de
passagers
en 2007
Map produced using Philcarto - copyright VNF
Main results 2007
The sector went over 10 million passengers
in 2007 (+ 7.1%). Since the 2002 season, the
first year that records were kept, the number of passengers transported (Province + Ilede-France) is up 20%, or one and a half million extra
passengers. The region where this trend is undoubtedly
the strongest is still Ile-de-France since it carries 7 out
of 10 passengers. Ile-de-France reflects the dynamism of
the sector (+ 8.8%) thanks to the excellent numbers of
tourists in the capital.
In second position, Alsace has a significant number of
foreign vessels navigating on its network.
Because the activity of day trip boats is mainly
city-based (Paris, Strasbourg ...), it is strongly associated
with urban tourism.
77 475
475 000
000 Ile-de-France
Ile-de-France
876 000 Alsace + foreign boats
876 000 Alsace + bateaux étrangers
300
300 Rhone-Alpes
300 300 Rhône-Alpes
54 54
900900
Normandy
Normandie
0%
10 000 000
-16%
Absence
de diffusion
des informations
No
information
provided
8 000 000
Fait avec Philcarto http://philgeo.club.fr
6 000 000
4 000 000
2 000 000
0
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
3
division
Tourisme - services
aux usagers
175, rue Ludovic
Boutleux,
boîte postale 820
62408 Béthune cedex
téléphone
03 21 63 24 54
télécopie
03 21 63 24 42
division
Prospective,
Études et
Statistiques
175, rue Ludovic
Boutleux,
boîte postale 820
62408 Béthune cedex
téléphone
03 21 63 24 56
télécopie
03 21 63 24 42
www.vnf.fr
mars 2009
Hotel barges
product and attract new customers. They recorded
some 25,000 passengers carried (+ 14%) and nearly
The offer and main results for the 2007 season
139,000 nights sold (+ 9%). The American clientele
The sector had 89 hotel barges operated by 69 is still dominant on this market. However, although it
companies in 2007.
declined a little this year (22% in 2007 against 28%
The activity grew strongly, reflecting its complete in 2006), the French clientele is still attracted to this
recovery following the various economic problems it product, in particularly in the «group barges» category
went through (9/11, drought in 2003). The companies which offers day trips.
have managed to adapt their offer to diversify the
River cruisers
Number of passengers carried
by navigation watershed in 2007
and change 2007/2006
Changes
in the number of passengers
Taux d’évolution du nombre de
carried
between
2007entre
and 2007
2006et 2006
passagers
transportés
52%
11%
0
0
stable
- 11%
Absence
d'information
No
information
Sud-Ouest
Nombre de
passagers transportés
2007
Number
of passengers
carried in en
2007
11 11
700
Rhone
Saône
Watershed
700
Bassin
Rhône-Saône
5 000
4 400
Fait avec Philcarto http://philgeo.club.fr
Carte 12 Nombre de passagers transportés par bassin de navigatioon en 2007 et son taux d’évolution par rapport à 2006
The offer and main results 2007
With a fleet of 25 boats in operation during the 2007
season, the river cruise companies recorded figures
nearly six times higher than the hotels barge sector
(approximately 137,000 passengers and 580,000
Nord - Ile-de-France
nights sold). Business this year decreased by about 7%.
3 800
With a large portion of the French-based
Centre-Est
fleet, the Rhine Moselle and Rhone
Saône watersheds account for the vast
majority of cruises. The industry offers
11 700
high-level services aboard floating hotels
with an average capacity of 100 beds and hotel
services equivalent to a 3 or 4-star hotel.
Rhône-Saône
5 000
South-West
Watershed
5 000
Bassin Sud-Ouest
3 800
North
- IleNord
de France
3 800
Bassin
- Ile-de-France
Main changes 2007/2006
Variation 2007/2006 in the fleet
4
House boats
Day trip boats
Hotel barges
River cruisers
+ 0.3%
+ 4.3%
0.0%
+ 4.0%
Variation 2007/2006 in the number
of passengers carried
+ 0.0%
+ 7.1%
+ 14.0%
- 7.0%
The complete report is available from the tourism and users’ services division of Voies Navigables de France: 03.21.63.24.95