Tourism. Inflation, international context… Camping, the big winner for summer 2026?

The call of the great outdoors. Many French people will head to a campsite for their summer vacation. According to the FNHPA (National Federation of Outdoor Hotels), there will be nearly 28 million people pitching their tents, parking their caravan, camper van, or choosing a mobile home this summer. One in two French people (51%), who book paid accommodation between July 1 and September 30, choose camping, according to the federation. “We are the leading camping country in Europe,” enthuses Nicolas Dayot, president of the FNHPA. “The particularity is that we have 70% French among our clients and 30% Europeans. We have almost no non-European tourists. The foreigners are mainly Dutch, Germans, Belgians and British. HAS”

In fact, reservations for the summer season in mid-June are almost stable compared to last year (+1%), despite an uncertain international context and inflation still present. “We are going to maintain our level of attendance because we offer a quality-price ratio that is effective,” argues Nicolas Dayot. Which is also possible, but which is intuition for the moment […]is that a certain number of French people who wanted to go abroad may have said to themselves: “This year, we are going to stay in France because we don’t want to be stuck in Dubai, where I don’t know where.†.

Bare pitches increasingly popular

Price is often the determining criterion for choosing a campsite. But with an offer that ranges from municipal land to 5-star establishments, prices can go from simple to triple. According to the FFCC (French Camping and Caravanning Federation), a mobile home for four to six people in high season can cost from 500 euros per week to 3,000 euros in a 5-star campsite. For a less expensive solution, bare pitches where you can pitch your tent or park your caravan, van or camper van are popular. Prices then vary between 15 euros to 80 euros per night in a 5 star hotel, according to the FFCC. And most of the time, it is possible to book per night, without the requirement of a minimum of one week, which allows the bill to be adjusted accordingly.

For vacationers with the most modest budgets, they still need to find space on bare pitches that are increasingly in demand, particularly by the French. In 2025, demand for these locations by French customers increased by 9.4% over one year, according to figures from the FNHPA. Some campers denounce the fact that campsites favor the profitability of rentals to the detriment of bare pitches. “We regularly receive letters from people who tell us “but it’s not possible. Stop calling these establishments campsites, call them open-air hotels… “, testifies Fabienne Yobé, general director of the FFCC which represents the interests of campers.

“There are 840,000 pitches available in French campsites, of which 49% are bare pitches, or 410,000, which is a lot,” defends Nicolas Dayot. “We contrast, and this is obviously an error, equipped pitches with bare pitches by saying the bad mobile homes have made the pitches for tents and caravans disappear. In reality, that’s not it,” argues the representative of the French campsites. “The fact of having installed equipped pitches has made it possible to extend the season, to win over new customers, to increase turnover and therefore to invest to improve the quality of the service. This has allowed us in 20 years to add swimming pools, services, restaurants, bars, nightclubs… And therefore the tourist experience even in bare locations is better today than it was 20 years ago,” he adds.

28 million holidaymakers at the campsite

For him, the availability of bare pitches does not depend so much on the availability of these in French campsites but on the general attendance which has increased in fifteen years, going from 19 million in 2010 to 28 million vacationers today. “It’s true that where campsites were empty, now they are full in the summer. And so if you don’t reserve, you don’t have a place.” In order to help campers looking for a bare pitch, the FFCC has developed a mobile application to find out the availability of campsites in real time, “to prevent ‘real campers’ in quotation marks from being disappointed”, explains Fabienne Yobe.

In the coming weeks, vacationers can hope to make some savings by booking their summer stay. “There is a lot of traffic on the websites,” attests Nicolas Dayot, “so roughly speaking, customers look and plan their vacations, but they don’t book. This will undoubtedly reinforce the last minute phenomenon and therefore potentially promotions.” A few weeks before the big departures, it is perhaps therefore urgent to wait to save a few euros. By taking the risk of pitching your tent further away than desired.