Escape to the great outdoors, in the middle of nature, far from small apartments in metropolitan areas, was the dream of many city dwellers during confinement. After several months of restrictions, this summer 2021 has a particular taste: that of freedom (well, if the Delta variant does not come to ruin our holidays).
This year, some French people have chosen to spend their holidays in nature to enjoy the great outdoors and calm. Road trip in a van, trek in the French mountains, sailing on a sailboat… What if the coronavirus crisis, and confinement, had given us back a taste for nature and “roots” holidays?
Nature’s comeback
The idea of spending a week’s vacation in Juan-les-Pins with a visit to the seafront nightclub gives you buttons? You are not the only ones. The French are more and more numerous to abandon the traditional (and very expensive) holidays on the Coast to go deeper into the land, far from the crowds. According to a study carried out by Ipsos for the Alliance France Tourisme, nearly 80% of French people intend to favor outdoor activities this summer and 76% want to avoid frequented places. While countryside vacations are nothing new, they seem to be more popular this year: rural stays represent 45% of Airbnb bookings for summer 2021, compared to 24% during summer 2019 *.
“This trend already existed, but it is confirmed more this year. When we talk about wide open spaces, it is not necessarily desert or natural places, where we do not meet anyone, but destinations where nature is preserved ”, explains Didier Arino, director of Protourisme, to 20 minutes, citing the Arcachon basin, the Landes or the Pyrenees. Why this urgent need for air? “People have been teleworking a lot and in isolation, there is a need for space, to find friends and family, but where everyone lives at their own pace,” he analyzes.
The van to mix nature and “slow tourism”
And what better than a van or a motorhome to enjoy nature and be free to move around? Change destination every day, spend vacations at your own pace, sleep where you want (or almost)… This type of vacation seduced Marine and Anthony, from Clermont Ferrand, who took advantage of the confinement to renovate a van.
“We bought our van, not very big but enough to spend the summer there, with this crazy project of not depending on anyone, of waking up every morning in front of a different landscape, of discovering France and its nature”, explains the couple who have traveled the roads of Corsica, Provence and the Pyrenees since the lifting of the first restrictions in France. And they are obviously not the only ones. After the two confinements, Blacksheep Van, one of the leading French companies in the rental of campervans, has been taken by storm, selling full in 2020 and for the summer of 2021.
If the concept works so well, it’s because the van combines nature, freedom and tranquility. “In recent years, and even more since the epidemic, there has been a trend of slow tourism, we take the time to live, to contemplate the landscapes, to favor encounters and the outdoors. The van makes it possible to mix these aspects, ”explains Augustin Mahieux, sales manager of the company. “People realize that two weeks in the Alps is much more relaxing and exotic than two weeks at Club Med, they need to be stimulated,” he adds.
A feeling that fits perfectly with those of Marine and Anthony: “After this period which was very anxiety-provoking, we are happy to be able to rediscover this taste for freedom. “We are not going to hide it, in this period of pandemic, driving alone, without having to put on your mask for the tenth time, and sleeping in nature, without the constraint of social distancing, are little extras that can make the difference .
For the same reasons, others have chosen to literally take to the seas this summer. “There is a real craze for boat rental, it is one of the best ways to get away from it all, to be free, to discover nature from the sea and to be far from the crowds”, notes Bastien Rambert, communication manager by Click & Boat, a platform for renting boats between individuals, which recorded as many bookings in June 2021 as in the months of June 2020 and 2019 combined. “This year we find a desire to sail ‘green’, with sailing boats, solar boats or barges, which also allow ‘slow tourism’”.
Full box for outdoor activities
After weeks of confinement, taking the 10,000 daily steps in the stairwell, the French are thirsty for activities linked to the great outdoors. Nearly 80% of the population going on vacation this summer intend to focus on outdoor activities, according to an Ipsos study for the Alliance France Tourisme. “This need for nature is materialized by the considerable boom in the practice of hiking, all nature activities, whether rafting or trail running, the fact of climbing the legendary passes of the Tour de France”, confirms Didier Arino, who nonetheless points to a concern associated with certain nature destinations. “The vacationer is afraid of being bored. The destinations that are making the most progress are those where customers combine nature with cultural or sporting activities. “
A model chosen by Emmanuel, in his forties, who has planned a week of cycling in Corsica, before a trek for several days in the Alps: “Since the epidemic, I have been avoiding the crowds more and more and I prefer holidays. respectful of the environment, which combine nature, sport and discovery of a region. “Precisely, in Corsica, the GR20, the famous path that crosses the Isle of Beauty, is likely to explode the counters this summer, with more than 50,000 overnight stays already reserved as of May 31, against 15,077 in 2020 and 28,842 in 2019. If the path has 13 lodgings, “for 11 euros, tent included, walkers can sleep under the stars and that is often what they choose”, explained Jacques Costa, president of the Regional Natural Park (PNRC) of Corsica to our colleagues Echoes.
For non-athletes, nature has just as much to offer in terms of heritage and gastronomy. ” The slow tourism can also take the form of hiking, but with a greater heritage and gastronomic dimension, ”adds Didier Arino. So, still want to do the duck dance at Club Med?