The possibility of Russian visitors abandoning the Côte d'Azur this summer dims the outlook for tourism workers on the Côte d'Azur, where business has been slowed by the health crisis and is only now beginning to take up. The real estate and yachting industries are projected to suffer as a result.
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| [Cote D'Azru] |
"With the exception of World War II, the summer shows itself fairly nicely." We've already received a large number of reservations from Americans and Canadians." Because the commencement of conflict in Ukraine is likely to cloud the sky for local professionals, whose activity had just begun to perk up following the Covid-19 hiatus.
Tourism from Russia and Ukraine is a gift that has every possibility of escaping them in the coming months. According to the Côte d'Azur regional tourist council (CRT), Russians and residents of numerous former Soviet countries, notably Ukraine, accounted for 6% of international visits to hotels and homes on the Côte d'Azur in 2019. This figure peaked in 2012 at 9%. It has since fallen due to the sharp drop in the rouble, which is reducing the purchasing power of Russians in the eurozone.
Summer Tourism
The CRT anticipated that the number of stays for Russians alone will be 190,000 in 2019, including 83,000 via plane. These arrive mostly in the summer, with a presence confined to the coast, Nice and the Riviera (Monaco, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat), but also the Cap d'Antibes and Cannes, where this clientele loves the Croisette's upmarket establishments such as the Martinez and the Carlton. In sum, the Côte d'Azur accounts for one-fifth of Russian hotel stays in France.
In another discipline, yachting, the Russians' likely departure in the coming months is an even bigger blow. "It won't matter much in the lowest section of the market, but as you go up in size, the more the Russians weigh," says Thierry Voisin, head of the European Committee for Professional Yachting and broker on the port of Nice. According to him, in the sector of boats 50-60 metres and larger, which can carry up to 70 crew members, they can account for up to 25% of the market.
Impact on yachting
The impact on turnover affects the whole industry, including brokers who rent, sell, or manage boats and whose major representatives are based in Monaco, as well as shipyards, which are now more concentrated in the Var and the Bouches-du-Rhône. On March 3, the first Russian boat, owned by a business affiliated to the energy corporation Rosneft, was seized near La Ciotat.
The real estate industry should not be immune to the Ukrainian war. According to the CRT Côte d'Azur, Russians hold over a thousand second houses in the region nowadays. This very robust growth rate has spurred price increases, primarily in the premium market.
Air travel, on the other hand, should be unaffected by Russia's absence. The Aéroports de la Côte d'Azur group is the second biggest business aviation platform in France and Europe, with two airports in Nice and Cannes. "However, whether in commercial or general aviation (business aviation, editor's note), traffic with Russia accounts for less than 1% of overall traffic in terms of movements and passengers," says a carrier. Today, the direct Nice-Kiev and Nice-Moscow routes are closed. Those scheduled for the summer with Lviv and Saint Petersburg will most likely not take place.
Today, there is no Russian aircraft sitting on the tarmac at Nice Airport. The only jet present recently, the tycoon Roman Abramovich's Boeing 737, left the Baie des Anges on the first day of the battle.