Tourism still in vogue in Bordeaux

Last updated:

After being named “city to visit” by Lonely Planet, Bordeaux is gradually establishing itself as the “new capital” of French tourism.

In fact, there were 93 million tourist nights in 2015 in Aquitaine. The Tourist Board registered 854,311 visitors, an additional 22% increase over the previous year. This makes Bordeaux the fastest growing city in the hotel industry in France. GreatBritain, Spain, Germany, the United States and Canada are in the lead.

The airport, facilitator of tourism in Bordeaux

Tourism in Bordeaux is also encouraged by the airport, which is also following this growth, with 7.6% more traffic in Mérignac, or 5,300,000 passengers.

Faced with this craze, the capital Girondine has set up a site dedicated exclusively to tourism www.bordeaux-tourisme.com. At the same time, Airbnb’s development follows this dynamic: 6,000 Homes in Bordeaux are now listed on the platform. Only the city of Paris offers more in France.

Nevertheless, with an average of 2,100 euros per year for the owner of a rental property, the competition is estimated to be relatively low for hoteliers. Especially since luxury and high-end hotels are the ones that have increased the most with an occupancy rate up by almost 11%.

A remarkable influx for tourism in Bordeaux in 2019

As every year, the tourist office and congresses of Bordeaux Metropole communicates the figures of the quarterly and annual tourism activity. It is notably informed by the tourist barometer of Bordeaux Metropole and by the information of tourism professionals.

The year 2019 was particularly good for the city. Indeed, it recorded record numbers in terms of overnight stays or cultural visits. Thus, the number of overnight stays increased by 4.8% to 6.35 million. On the cultural side, there are no less than 1.49 million visitors. This is an increase of 16.8% more than in 2018. This growth is linked in particular to the opening of the Bordeaux Museum and the FRAC.

A dynamic challenged by the pandemic

In terms of transport, the city is not left behind as air traffic continues to grow. Indeed, with 7.7 million passengers, Bordeaux Mérignac airport is gaining an additional one million passengers for the year 2019. In addition, there are no less than 43 cruise ship stops.

The year 2020 will not be as lenient for the tourism sector in Bordeaux. Indeed, the impact of COVID-19 slowed the entire sector. In New Aquitaine attendance decreased by 13% during the summer season. This is a difficult time for all tourism players. Among them are hoteliers. However, they can benefit from the support of large groups such as Leboncoin, which is launching an adapted recovery plan.

Sources:
Key figures for tourism in Aquitaine

The development of Airbnb in Bordeaux

Abonnez-vous à la Newsletter