Vacation Departures: A Look at Ordinary French People [ABO]


Vacation departure rates, more or less variable

Partir seul rend enfin difficile l’idée de voyager pour 62% des Français - DepositPhotos.com, serezniy

PONANT


All due respect: where do French holidaymakers stand?

According to the latest figures from Credoc, 57% of French people aged 15 to 69 go on vacation at least once a year and 14% of them never go — notably among precarious groups — while couples with children and residents of the Paris metropolitan area go away more often.

In a country like ours, where departure aid has not completely disappeared (aid provided by employers, the CAF, town halls or other bodies), a quarter of the population benefited from at least one of these aids. In particular, young people and economically disadvantaged groups.

Remember also the special case of holiday vouchers, pure products of the 1980s and the Mauroy government, which can also be used for leisure, the arts and culture, or dining, and which benefit 29% of the 15-69 age group and 36% of working professionals.

See also: Departures on vacation: a major indicator of social inequalities



Barriers to departure

If the lack of financial means explains the absence of vacation departures for 47% of the 15-69 age group, they are nevertheless a good third who restrict spending on essential expenses (health, food) to maintain a budget for vacations.

It should also be noted that 33% of respondents say they prefer to take their children on trips, even if it means not going themselves.

But beyond finances, other situations can be cited by non-participants :

– 23% prefer to stay at home

– 14% mention family and health problems

– 12%, for their part, highlight professional reasons.

Organizational difficulties around departure and, above all, social aspects also make departures difficult or impossible for some respondents :

– traveling alone finally makes the idea of traveling difficult for 62% of French people

– traveling with family also poses a problem for 53% of our fellow citizens

– the stress related to departure affects 42% of French people, notably in terms of organization, planning, and online payments, which people are increasingly reluctant to do.

See also: Solitude, desperately seeking friendship


A slight improvement in terms of aid

Globally, however, according to a study conducted for the ANCV *, things are moving in the right direction: since 2008, CAF assistance has risen from 5% to 12%; municipal aid has risen from 1% to 7%; employer aid over the same period reaches 15% of the French population, up from 10%.

In 2025, these aids reduced the rate of non-departures among those aged 15-69 to 14% versus 18% in 2009.

13% report traveling “every two years” versus 9% in 2009.

The French people who travel once a year are also somewhat more numerous.

* In 2024, according to the ANCV annual report: 23% of holiday vouchers were used for vacations and transportation, 24% for accommodation, 9% for cultural leisure.


Eco-anxiety is rising, especially among the young

Not surprisingly, especially after summer heatwaves and other fires and droughts, it is worth confirming that the climate issue is becoming more and more entrenched in people’s minds.

According to Credoc, six in ten French people believe that climate change will bring major changes to their lifestyles, and nearly half believe that climate disruption adds to their anxiety.

On these issues, young people are more worried than older generations given the time they have left to live and their awareness of these questions at school.

However, two-thirds of French people think they can protect themselves at an individual level from the consequences of climatic disruptions.

A figure all the more meaningful since today 42% of residents in France have already faced the consequences of warming where they live, compared with 24% in 2015.


Cultural outings say a lot as well, but they change little



Josette Sicsic - DR

Journalist, consultant, lecturer, Josette Sicsic has been observing for over 25 years the changes in the world in order to analyze their consequences for the tourism sector.

After leading for more than 20 years the Touriscopie journal, she remains at the forefront of current events where she decodes the present to forecast the future. On the site www.tourmag.com, in the Futuroscopie section, she publishes several times a week prospective and analytical articles.

Contact: 06 14 47 99 04

Mail: [email protected]

France: The Portrait of People Who Don’t Take Holidays

France : voici le portrait-robot des non-partants en vacances ! - Depositphotos.com @ alphaspirit

CroisiEurope


As every year, the IFTM is the moment when the Tourism Minister reveals the excellent summer performance.

The 2026 edition did not deviate from the rule.

Serge Papin highlighted the solid performance of foreign clientele, which generated revenues amounting to 49.5 billion euros between January and the end of July 2026, i.e. +3.7% compared to 2025.

A whole list of outbound markets in growth followed. But the fog remains regarding the French, because indicators would be weak and more trending downward, according to our information.

Among the statistics unveiled: the rate at which French people depart within France in the heart of summer, in July–August, fell by 5 points to 59%, and 84% of French vacationers did so domestically.

“We have 60 % of the French going on vacation each year. This rate has remained the same for decades. And the 40 % of French who do not travel is a remarkably stable figure.

In the past, SOFRES conducted fairly valuable surveys on tourism topics, but this theme is almost abandoned today.

Then all surveys are now conducted online, except one stubborn one: Guy Raffour. His firm and its 16 investigators do Benedictine-like work. They even, for the first time, shed light on those French people who do not go on vacation
“, explains Jean-Michel Blanc, former director of vacations at the Caisse centrale d’activités sociales.


22 million French people did not go on vacation

To detail the portrait of non-travellers in France, and the reasons for this situation, Guy Raffour, director of Raffour Interactif, bases his work on real people who take phone calls.

And how does this change things compared to ticking boxes on a website?

“The 16 interviewers call by telephone and compile 400 hours of interviews.

This methodology changes a lot, especially when focusing on non-participants, because the characteristics that keep them from traveling are the same ones that cause them not to appear in online panels.

They are more distant from the Internet, from technological tools, from large cities and are also less mobile“, Raffour explains.

These are also people whom one must win over, so they open up about the reasons they do not go on vacation. They feel marginal, especially due to the social pressure surrounding holidays.

Read: Tourism in France: a 2026 summer marked by contrasts between international clientele and French choices

The telephone interview therefore holds particular importance.

“It is a central subject, because going on vacation has become an essential need.

Thus, in 2025, 61% of French people aged 15 and over in mainland France went on vacation. Those who took long non-commercial stays accounted for 37%. Long commercial stays accounted for 41%.

From this total, subtract 17%, as these are the people who undertake both types of stays. We adopt the UNWTO definition of vacations, i.e., four consecutive nights away from the habitual residence.

We exclude trips for concerts, festivals or events, unless they included an extension before or after.

In 2025, there were 39% non-participants. This represents 22 million French people. The reasons are very varied
“, analyses Raffour.


Non-participants: mainly elderly people and residents of small towns

Let us now draw the robot portrait of non-participants.

Still according to the survey, the average monthly income before tax for a household that traveled was €3,750, versus €2,315 for a household that did not travel.

The difference stands at €1,445.

“A second important characteristic is an 11-year age gap between non-participants and those who travel, the latter being younger.

If those aged 25–50 have the highest departure rate, those aged 65 and over have the highest non-departure rate, at 60%, ahead of the 15–24 and 50–64 groups, each at 35%.

Moreover, the more people there are in a household, the higher the departure rate.
“, Raffour reveals.


A social determinism: “workers travel much less than employees”

On socio-professional categories, a few surprises emerge.

Contrary to what one might expect, the highest non-departure rate is among retirees, at 58%. They follow by workers at 44%, farmers at 41%, employees at 36%, and traders at 35%.

The departure rate is 81% for intermediate professions.

“The primary reason people say they didn’t travel is simply insufficient income, so financial constraints take precedence. Then, given international instability and the national context, the French prefer to save.

There is also a difficulty in spotting travel assistance. They exist, but part of the population cannot access them. Social organizations must talk about vacations
“, explains Raffour.

Moreover, with the upgrading of the French tourism industry, some respondents noted a lack of entry-level offers.

There are also professional constraints, especially for job seekers, those who change employers, but also precarious workers.

To this, add all those who have trouble being replaced, such as farmers, doctors, firefighters, etc. There is also a social determinism that blocks vacation departure.

“When one has not had the capacity to travel with family or friends, it leads to social reproduction, as Bourdieu stated.

And this is true to the extent that, even when wages of workers and employees are almost equal, workers travel considerably less than employees.

Many people told us they do not know how to plan and organize their vacations. Illiteracy in digital tools is also a major issue to combat.

Finally, the aging population, which is unlikely to improve, brings health problems and loneliness
“, concludes Raffour.

There is therefore no single explanation, and there are many levers to achieve greater social justice, provided one is willing to activate them.


Holidays: an entirely interactive infographic on non-participants in France

No vacations in 2025

39%

22 million French peopleaged 15 and over in metropolitan France

The portrait-robot

€

Who travels the least?

Test a profile

Scores by criterion, not cumulative.

Why they don’t travel

N°1

Insufficient incomePrioritizes essential expenses; no vacation on credit

Source : Raffour Interactif 2026 Barometer “Short stays, holidays, e-tourism”, 1,000 telephone interviews, quota sampling. Holidays: at least one leisure stay of four nights or more. Revenues, age gaps, gender, Paris region and household size: Guy Raffour on TourMaG.com (22 September 2026).

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Chiffres par taille de foyer : non communiquu00e9s.

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Personal Branding: People Don’t Buy a Brand, They Buy a Story [ABO]


Le personal branding, ou la fin du message universel et l’avènement du "je" dans la communication - Depositphotos modifié avec l'IA

Aer Lingus


On dit souvent que les crises ne font que servir d’accélérateurs à des tendances déjà en cours.

La Covid n’a pas bouleversé en profondeur notre mode de vie, mais elle a sciemment digitalisé davantage notre société, renforcé des usages existants et incité un plus grand nombre à franchir le pas.

C’est aussi le cas pour le personal branding.

Vous connaissez ces publications LinkedIn qui sortent chaque jour à 8 h 30, parfois irritantes avec leurs allégories qui n’ont ni queue ni tête, et qui pourtant vous informent, vous marquent ou vous agacent.

Cette façon de communiquer, centrée autour du dirigeant, n’est pas nouvelle, loin s’en faut. Elle est même née lorsque Tom Peters, expert américain du management, posa les bases bien avant la démocratisation d’Internet.

“You are a brand. You are the steward of your brand. There is no single path to success. And there isn’t one right way to create the brand called You.

Except this one: start today. Otherwise, beware“, expliquait-il alors dans un article devenu culte, The Brand Called You (ou La marque qui s’appelle Vous, en français) paru en… 1997.

Et les professionnels du tourisme s’y sont mis, mais avec du retard… ils ont attendu près de 30 ans.



Personal branding : “ce qui attire, c’est la personne derrière la marque”

For while a few top executives have clearly understood the value of embodying their own brand—such as Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, or Richard Branson, and closer to us, Michel-Édouard Leclerc or Marc Simoncini—the examples have remained scarce in our industry… until the Covid pandemic.

“During the health crisis, players in the sector wondered how to stay in touch with clients even when travel and work were not possible.

Many companies organized video conferences; leaders learned to use cameras and showed themselves. And this phenomenon isn’t limited to tourism. It occurred in the services industry as well. Covid was a real trigger.

Alongside this, there has been a long-standing trend in recent years: what attracts today’s consumer is the person behind the brand, we’re told by Catherine Mugot, a former travel agent turned communications professional and founder of the agency Adopte ma Com.

If the advent of the Internet propelled the “I” to the forefront, the pandemic democratized personal branding.

Brands were first embodied by influencers, then quickly, leaders told themselves they could become their own brand, to illuminate their company.

But this cannot be done by all means.

For Catherine Mugot, it is essential to ask why one chooses to speak out. It must not be done to follow a trend, but with a precise purpose.



On Virginie Faivet’s side, CEO of DoneAgency, there is one communication axis that works very well: personal pronouncements.


Personal branding : créer son profil de marque pour “toucher et interpeller”


Dans cette nouvelle édition du magazine de TourMaG, la rédaction a concocté un dossier phare consacré au personal branding Cliquez sur l'image © TourMaG, Raf et IA

“Nous travaillons beaucoup l’histoire des gens, les valeurs, la marque employeur à travers les histoires personnelles des dirigeants. Cela a beaucoup d’impact. Les gens n’achètent plus seulement une marque, ils achètent maintenant une histoire“, nous détaille Virginie Faivet.

Après l’apparition du terme personal branding à la fin des années 1990, cette mouvance va être théorisée au début des années 2000 par Peter Montoya et William Arruda.

Il faudra attendre quelques années pour que ces préceptes arrivent en France, autour de 2006.

Pour devenir sa propre marque ou incarner celle de son entreprise, deux des objectifs premiers du personal branding, il convient alors de créer son profil de marque. Celui-ci permet de fixer son positionnement, ses points différenciants, sa vision, ses talents et ses missions.

“Si l’on parle du secteur du voyage, il est extrêmement concurrentiel, avec un grand nombre d’agences et d’entreprises.

Il y a 20 ans, dans les livres de marketing, on reprenait souvent le chiffre des 1 000 messages publicitaires reçus par jour pour parler de la saturation de notre environnement. Sauf qu’avec le web, le nombre de messages a été décuplé.

Pour piquer quelqu’un et faire résonner son message afin que la personne le mémorise, nous sommes obligés de raconter quelque chose qui va la toucher et l’interpeller.

Pour y arriver, il n’y a rien de mieux que l’histoire de quelqu’un, car vous avez tous les ingrédients pour réussir.

Vous avez le contexte, la narration, l’émotion, puis surtout l’identification à la cible, poursuit Virginie Faivet, qui accompagne des professionnels du secteur du tourisme, mais pas seulement.

Et l’industrie du voyage est un formidable vivier à anecdotes, parcours atypiques, belles images et histoires.


Le personal branding permet d’agir sur plusieurs leviers

Toute campagne de personal branding doit suivre ses objectifs et ne pas s’en écarter, sous peine de tomber dans une notoriété sans impact.

“Il ne faut pas confondre visibilité et business, ce sont deux choses différentes.

Voilà pourquoi il convient de savoir pourquoi on se lance, de définir ses objectifs, mais aussi ses limites. Il faut que ce soit vu comme une manière de se différencier, mais sûrement pas comme une course aux clics ou une façon de faire du bad buzz.



La prise de parole doit servir à montrer son expertise, démontrer sa valeur ajoutée à ses clients et, du coup, donner suffisamment confiance aux gens pour qu’ils aient envie d’avoir ce conseil
“, tempère l’ancienne agent de voyages.

Dorénavant, les dirigeants, managers et salariés se racontent, donnent leur avis et prennent même des positions parfois plus ou moins risquées.

L’enjeu est donc d’exister, mais sans se perdre… soi. Pour y arriver, il convient d’établir une stratégie, sans s’inventer un personnage.

“Sinon, les gens n’incarnent pas, ils doivent être eux-mêmes.

Ce que nous permettons, c’est la verbalisation de qui ils sont. Nous les accompagnons pour trouver les mots justes, pour verbaliser ce qu’ils ont envie de dire et ce qu’ils ressentent. Nous les aidons aussi à passer devant la caméra, ce qui n’est pas naturel pour tout le monde.

Puis nous mettons en place une stratégie des messages à faire passer et, surtout, de ce que la cible devra retenir. L’enjeu est avant tout que la personne touchée puisse retenir quelque chose qui serve sa propre stratégie
“, affirme Virginie Faivet.

Il faut bien comprendre que tous ceux qui prennent la parole sur LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook et même TikTok n’ont pas la même stratégie.

Une Marion Benattar ou une Ségolène Sergent cherchent avant tout des clients, quand Lionel Rabiet souhaite, lui, prendre la parole pour le plaisir d’écrire, mais aussi pour incarner son entreprise. D’autres le font pour travailler leur marque employeur. Pour François Lévêque, patron de Centrale Voyages converti sur le tard, l’objectif est encore différent.

Il a eu une vie professionnelle très éloignée du tourisme, durant laquelle il a fondé et dirigé une entreprise employant plus de 1 000 salariés.

Avec le personal branding, il souhaite avant tout activer son ancien réseau, riche de patrons, pour générer si possible de l’activité.

“Même si elle pourrait être vue comme le simple prolongement de l’influence, pour moi, cette tendance est différente, car le but ici, c’est surtout de passer à l’achat. Le personal branding aujourd’hui participe à donner confiance au consommateur, à apporter de la légitimité à l’achat.

Et contrairement à ce que l’on pourrait penser, ce n’est pas seulement réservé aux grands patrons. Je crois qu’à partir du moment où l’on est à la tête d’une petite entreprise, c’est un bon moyen de générer de la confiance et de partager utile,
“, questionne Catherine Mugot.


French People Want to Travel but Struggle to Take Action


L’envie de voyager des Français reste forte malgré les freins - Depositphotos.com, Ivantsov

CroisiEurope


A study conducted by Qualimétrie for Marco Vasco among 1,033 French people highlights a paradox: the desire to travel remains strong, yet the organization of trips is becoming an increasing obstacle.

According to the study, 90% of respondents have a dream travel project that they never realized.

Budget remains the main obstacle, cited by 68% of those surveyed.

But lack of time has also become a significant brake: it affects 40% of respondents, and up to 59% of those aged 25-34. The complexity of organizing trips is, meanwhile, mentioned by 33% of those polled, with a share reaching 43% in the Île-de-France region.


The desire to travel persists despite geopolitical tensions

In this context, professional support seems to retain its appeal. 76% of French respondents consider a travel agency useful or indispensable today, compared with only 9% who deem it useless.

Expectations primarily focus on security and reliability (27%), ahead of travel planning (25%), price (25%) and destination expertise (23%). Price remains a significant lever: 59% of respondents say they would be ready to depart today if rates were more attractive.

International uncertainties do not seem to fundamentally undermine departure plans.

66% of those questioned say their desire to travel has not changed despite geopolitical tensions, while 20% declare it has weakened. Nearly one French person in two (48%) also plans to revive a trip that was previously postponed or canceled.

In the short term, 75% of respondents anticipate leaving abroad in the next six months.

For 2027, the projection is even higher: 85% plan to travel outside France, even though only 5% have already booked their stay.


Europe for short getaways, Asia for longer journeys

In terms of destinations, Europe tops travel intentions (53%), ahead of Asia (30%) and North America (16%).

The duration of the stay nonetheless influences choices. For one week to ten days, Europe is preferred by 66% of respondents. For ten to twenty days trips, Asia becomes the destination of choice for a French person in two.

The motivations are mainly linked to discovery: 29% mainly want to discover new cultures and 24% seek unique experiences, while 20% primarily look for rejuvenation.

Beyond travel intentions, 83% of the French surveyed say they are more inclined to open their horizons and discover the world. This aspiration is especially pronounced among women and the 25-44 age group.

According to Marco Vasco, this momentum is already starting to show in bookings. The bespoke travel specialist says it has observed, for a month now, a recovery in bookings for 2027.


Amelia Brille Published by Amelia Brille TourMaG.com Editor
See all articles by Amelia Brille

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Paris Is the City Where People Walk the Most in the World, Study Finds

Paris ranks among the metropolises where walking plays a particularly prominent role in daily travel. To carry out this study, the Parisian Urban Planning Workshop (APUR) compared modes of transport across seven major cities: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, London, New York, Paris and Tokyo.

Among these metropolises, it is in the City of Light that people walk the most. Indeed, according to survey data, 56% of trips in Paris are made entirely on foot. Whether to go grocery shopping, go to sports, to work, or to visit friends, Parisians are more inclined than Londoners (43% pedestrian trips), Berliners (38%), and all other populations surveyed to walk. This prevalence is mainly explained by the size of the city. Paris intra-muros covers only 105 km², compared to nearly 900 km² for Berlin or 1572 km² for Greater London. Among the agglomerations analyzed by APUR, only Barcelona is smaller than Paris, at 101.4 km².

Bicycling Isn’t as Popular as We Thought

Nevertheless, Parisians have travel habits that are quite different from those of residents in other major metropolises. Only 19% of Parisian households own a car. That is more than in Tokyo (16%) but less than in Barcelona and Amsterdam (33% and 28%). That does not mean, however, that these vehicles are used for all trips. Within Paris intra-muros, only 8% of journeys are made by car or motorized two-wheel vehicle. This figure rises when considering the Greater Paris metropolis, which includes the nearby suburbs.

Although many improvements have been made in recent years, and the number of cyclists has undeniably increased, the share of cycling trips in Île-de-France would not exceed 3%, compared with 34% in Amsterdam. In Paris intra-muros, cycling is nonetheless more prevalent. According to a study by the Institut Paris Région, 10.4% of residents commute to work exclusively by bicycle.

Parisians Favor Public Transport for Almost a Third of Their Trips

Of course, public transport remains to be factored into the equation. In the Paris metropolitan area, 31% of trips are made by bus, metro, tram, or Île-de-France trains. It is almost as common as in London but well below the habits of Tokyoites. There, collective transport is king, accounting for 54% of trips.

In Vienna, a One-of-a-Kind Museum Reveals How People Long Imagined the Earth

Our view of the world has continually evolved over the centuries, as a quirky museum in Austria attests. In the heart of Vienna, away from the crowds of usual tourist sites, there lies a unique museum on Earth. A gem for history buffs and lovers of maps, and sometimes even of the sky. Located in the Mollard Palace, the Globe Museum is indeed the only public institution wholly devoted to globes.

In this 17th-century setting, more than 220 rare and ancient spheres, most of which were crafted before 1850, are on display. “Globes attest to how our imagining of the planet has evolved. This is the only place in the world where you can see so many gathered together”, explains its director, Nikolaus Schobesberger, to the BBC, on Sunday, August 30.

A true mirror of bygone beliefs

The collection mainly tells how people over time tried to understand a world that remained largely unknown to them. Each globe records what people knew as well as what they did not know at the moment of its creation.

Some 16th-century globes show a North America that is lost among uncharted territories, when California isn’t depicted as an island state, an exaggerated Asia, or an imaginary southern continent in place of Australia and Antarctica. The oceans, meanwhile, are teeming with sea monsters or dragons, not with islands. On celestial globes, Renaissance astronomical observations still sit beside Pegasus, Perseus brandishing Medusa’s severed head, and other mythical creatures or figures.

Colonialism, space conquest…

Other pieces represent a colonial view of the world, with European flags planted on African coasts or caricatured representations of Indigenous peoples, transformed into cannibals. “They reflect the mindset of their time. They are certainly magnificent works of art, but we must also take into account the date of their creation”, notes Nikolaus Schobesberger.

One of the museum’s most fascinating objects is a lunar globe, created in 1961. The visible face of the Moon is meticulously drawn, but its far side is deliberately left white, because it had simply not yet been observed. Two years later, a new globe filled in that unknown portion. It also features a reproduction of the famous Martin Behaim globe, completed in 1492, which immortalizes a world without the Americas, but with an endless ocean separating Europe from Asia.

Initially reserved for princes and wealthy merchants, globes gradually became everyday objects, found in schools and households. In the era of Google Earth, they have not thankfully lost their power to fascinate. “It is not merely a scientific instrument, it is also an object that lets you dream of distant lands”, says the custodian of this place. For him, no other work of art stirs the imagination and the urge to discover distant places as much.

Just Travel: Making Travel Accessible for People with Disabilities

Just Travel : Le pari de rendre le monde accessible à tous, Stéphane Amado et Julie Smith, photo de Just Travel

Costa Rica


TourMaG – Could you introduce yourselves and explain what Just Travel is?

Stéphane Amado: The idea for Just Travel was born from a personal event. My brother had a serious accident on Réunion. Following his stay in intensive care, he found himself living with a disability and asked me to take him on vacation.

Accompanying him and allowing him to escape really marked me, and I looked for a way to turn it into my profession.

Julie Smith: Together with Stéphane, we met about six years ago. I initially completed a degree in communication and marketing, then we joined forces to pursue a Master’s in a business school focused on tourism, specifically to design this travel-agency project.

TourMaG – You have a travel agency that helps people with disabilities travel. Could you explain how it works?

Stéphane Amado: We are a specialized agency for people with motor disabilities, even if we’re not closed to other types of disability in the future.

Our highlight is to offer human support during the stay: if a traveler does not have a companion to accompany them, we send a professional companion (such as a specialized educator).

We manage everything from A to Z: accommodations, transport, accompaniment and help with activities of daily living (meals, moving around, etc.). For the first year, we are focusing on these guided stays, but we will also offer at some point stays without accompaniment, “turnkey” ones.


Behind the Scenes of Its Creation

TourMaG – What were the triggers and the journey to officially launch this agency?

Julie Smith : We had the theoretical concept in mind, but we weren’t sure how to structure it. The real turning point happened during our studies and thanks to our entry into an incubator for social-impact businesses.

We were supported by a program that helps young entrepreneurs who aim to move the needle and transform the social environment.

In studying the market, we realized there was a real equality gap. Many people with major motor disabilities crave travel but encounter enormous logistical barriers. The on-site contacts we made confirmed there was a crucial need for a structure like ours.

TourMaG – What were your main financial or logistical challenges when launching?

Stéphane Amado: The main obstacle to creating a travel agency is obtaining the mandatory financial guarantee. When you’re starting out with little equity, it’s nearly impossible: traditional organizations like the APST sometimes require guarantees of 100,000 or 200,000 euros.

Fortunately, we were supported by UNAT (National Union of Tourism Associations) through their financial-guarantee mechanism for social economy and solidarity structures. We were among the first dossiers of this kind to be accepted, and without that, the project could never have become a reality.


Motor Disability: Filling a Gap in the Tourism Market


Stéphane Amado et Julie Smith, photo de Just Travel

Tour-MaG – Why focus mainly on motor disability rather than mental or psychological disability?

Julie Smith : The current market for adapted travel agencies (notably those with specific approvals like VAO – Organized Adapted Vacations) already covers mental disability fairly well.

However, there is a glaring lack of structured offers for motor disability, brain injury or polytrauma.

Moreover, in our past experiences in the mental-disability sector, we noticed that departures on holidays often corresponded to “respite” stays organized by institutions, without the person always having expressed a deep travel preference.

At Just Travel, we target an audience that takes an active approach and has a genuine “thirst” to discover the world.


No Declarations, 100% On-the-Ground

TourMaG – How do you manage the complexity of arranging a trip and the restrictions of each traveler?

Julie Smith : This is the most complex aspect of our work: every person and every disability is entirely unique. Even if we create standard stays in our catalog, we must systematically rethink and tailor everything according to the exact restrictions and medical needs of the person.

You literally have to put yourself in their shoes to anticipate the slightest obstacle.

If someone needs daily nursing care (for example, one to two visits per day for specific care), our accompanying person can coordinate the intervention of a private nurse on the vacation site.

Conversely, if the pathology requires a medical presence or heavy care 6 to 7 times a day, the organization becomes much more complex and requires substantial sanitary logistics in advance.

TourMaG – How do you concretely verify the accessibility of a destination?

Julie Smith : We never rely on mere statements from a website or a hotellerie saying “yes, yes, it’s accessible at my place.”

There are too many surprises. Our methodology is based on strict upstream verification: we contact providers directly and, as far as possible, we go to visit and test the places ourselves.

There are a multitude of micro-details to check. For example, the type of battery in an electric wheelchair: some airlines categorically refuse certain battery models (lithium, etc.).

It is experience that lets us know exactly which questions to ask airlines and accommodations. And if a hitch occurs on-site despite everything, the presence of our accompanying person helps cover the lack of accessibility and find an immediate solution.


Tourism, Finally Accessible?

TourMaG – Which destinations are the most accessible today, and where is there still the most work to be done?

Stéphane Amado : The most accessible are those involving sea or river cruises. It’s a wonderful product for motor disability. You stay on the boat; accessibility is designed from the outset, elevators are wide, and moving around is easy, even with large electric wheelchairs.

Likewise, some natural spaces are making incredible efforts: I think of certain Regional Natural Parks or protected areas that, despite challenging terrain, have set up specific, flat and smooth routes for people with reduced mobility. Transportation there is also often well thought out.

Conversely, in historically wealthy countries with aging infrastructures, such as Egypt, visiting narrow tombs, descending into crypts or moving around ancient archaeological sites in a wheelchair can be impossible by conventional means.

However, we believe that with goodwill and hands, one can always adapt the trip. That is why we stress the presence of an accompanying person.

If a person in a wheelchair wants to attend a concert or visit a site and official PMR tickets are sold out, the presence of a solid companion allows them to purchase a regular ticket and manage the human logistics so that the person can enjoy the event like everyone else.

TourMaG – Is the tourism sector moving positively toward greater inclusion?

Just Travel : Yes, accessibility is becoming more of a focal point, sometimes even driven by marketing interests from traditional providers, but it is moving the needle.

Travel players are recognizing that it’s a real market. Yet there is still a huge amount of logistical and on-the-ground training work to do.

It’s no longer just a fashionable topic; there is genuine involvement from many sector players (transit networks, hoteliers) who offer partnerships or competitive rates to help us develop the agency. This is very encouraging for the future.

Hantavirus: French People Can Travel as They Wish, Says Philippe Tabarot


Hantavirus: "les Français peuvent voyager comme ils le souhaitent" selon Philippe Tabarot - Photo CH

CroisiEurope


Invited to France Info on May 13, 2026, the Minister of Transport Philippe Tabarot sought to reassure travelers and tourism professionals as concerns arose around hantavirus, fuel costs, and air transport ahead of the summer season.

Interroged on the serious hantavirus case detected in Paris following the MV Hondius cruise ship episode, the minister ruled out any restrictive measures in transport. “The virus is not spreading like it did with the coronavirus and the conditions are completely different,” he said on France Info, while acknowledging “the trauma of the French” tied to the Covid-19 health crisis.

Philippe Tabarot confirmed that no restrictions were being considered for trains, planes, subways, or other public transport. “There are currently no restrictions, regardless of the mode of transport,” he insisted, also ruling out any return of mandatory masking.


Hantavirus : “I tell the French that they can travel as they wish”

Questioned about cruises and travel to Argentina or certain zones affected by the virus, the minister sought to reassure.

“I tell the French that they can travel as they wish,” asserted Philippe Tabarot, noting nonetheless that authorities remain “particularly vigilant” on passenger traceability and contact cases, notably through the DGAC’s services.

The Minister of Transport also addressed concerns related to the Middle East conflict and its consequences for the supply of aviation fuel. “There is no kerosene shortage. There are still commercial stocks, there are strategic stocks,” he said, adding that “the French who wish will be able to depart this summer.”

“Airlines have no interest in canceling because simply the summer season is strategic for their business,” he added, also recalling that airlines do not have the ability to raise prices once a ticket has been paid: “When you make a transaction, when it’s signed, you cannot increase the price afterwards,” he stressed, referencing clarification at the European level.

He referred to Volotea, which had requested a fare adjustment for its customers after tickets had already been paid.


Philippe Tabarot also emphasized the tourism significance for the destination France. “We have the world’s leading tourism destination. There are 100 million people who will come to visit us this summer. It must not be a brake to this kerosene issue,” he reminded on France Info.

Sardinia’s Secret: The Blue Zone Where People Live Longer

Far from the big cities where stress and pollution are sometimes more palpable than a speed bump at 80 km/h, there are scattered around the world places where life can feel so good that people grow old, even very old. But what do they have that is so magical as to let their inhabitants blow out hundreds of candles?

What is a “Blue Zone”?

In the early 2000s, Michel Poulain, a Belgian demographer concerned with the role of the elderly in our societies, and Gianni Pes, an Italian physician, studied the longevity of the Sardinian population and mapped the villages where the most centenarians live. One area stood out more than the others: the Barbagia-Ogliastra zone, in the Nuoro province.

The two researchers are said to have outlined it in blue, and the first “Blue Zone” would thus be born. The journalist Dan Buettner would subsequently popularize the concept in National Geographic in 2004, enabling other “Blue Zones” to be identified later:

  • Okinawa, Japan
  • Nicoya, Costa Rica
  • Ikaria, Greece
  • Loma Linda, California

But while Blue Zones are the subject of extensive research today, their interpretation remains debated. Some scientists argue that the concept has sometimes been greatly simplified, or even idealized, by the wellness industry.

Where is the Sardinian Blue Zone?

Contrary to a widespread belief, there is not a single Blue Zone in Sardinia covering the entire island. The area identified by Michel Poulain and Gianni Pes in the early 2000s lies in east-central Sardinia, in Ogliastra and Barbagia, in the Nuoro province.

Among the villages regularly cited: Villagrande Strisaili, Arzana, Talana, Baunei, Urzulei, Perdasdefogu, Tiana, Ovodda and Orgosolo.

Note that in southern Sardinia, three other villages stand out for their number of nonagenarians and centenarians: Seulo, Teulada, Orroli.

Then in 2025, another site joined the list of already identified Blue Zones: the municipality of Arzachena, in Gallura (northeast Sardinia). However, this claim does not rest on scientific recognition as established as that of the Barbagia-Ogliastra historic zone.

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Costa Rica, Thailand, Greece, Croatia… Chaque année, de nombreux Français partent en vacances à l’étranger, mais non sans une certaine appréhension à l’idée de tomber sur un voisin de siège désagréable dans l’avion, capable de transformer le trajet en véritable épreuve.