France's hotels, campsites and other communal tourist accommodations set a new record in the number of overnight stays in the first five months of the year, according to the national statistics office INSEE. There were 260.5 million overnight stays in France between May and August 2026, 2.8 million more (+1.1%) than in the same period in 2025.
The record-breaking year for France's tourism comes as the country battles a historic drought and wildfires, with the summer of 2026 being the hottest since the start of the 20th century, when records began, according to France's weather and environment services. The average temperature in France last year was 3.6 degrees Celsius above the norm, and precipitation was 40 percent below average.
The increase in overnight stays was fueled almost entirely by domestic tourists, as the overnight stays by residents increased 1.6 percent year-on-year, compared with a slight rise in overnight stays by non-residents in hotels and campsites. More than two-thirds of all overnight stays were made by German tourists.
Campsites, which continue to be the most popular type of tourist accommodation in France, registered 126.5 million overnight stays, up 1.1 percent year-on-year, while hotels recorded 92 million overnight stays, up 1.7 percent.
France's tourism development agency Atout France said the appetite for travel remained strong, as 84 percent of people surveyed in mid-August said they had made at least one stay in France, the same share as in 2025.
While coastal areas in the north of France, facing the English Channel and the North Sea, and the Atlantic coast in the west, recorded the largest increases in overnight stays (up 5.6 percent and 5.0 percent, respectively), these two regions added 1.8 million overnight stays in total.
France's mountain regions, which tend to be popular destinations for French citizens looking to escape the heat, also saw demand rise by 1.3 percent (45 million overnight stays). Atout France said the occupancy rate of mountain accommodations was two percentage points higher than in 2025 in July.
Tourist accommodations in rural areas saw demand rise by 3.2 percent, compared with a 3.9 percent drop in densely built urban areas.
The drop was most significant in the southern Atlantic coastal region, down 2.3 percent, INSEE said, adding that the wildfires that broke out in France in late July may have contributed to the decrease. The Mediterranean coast, meanwhile, saw overnight stays increase by 0.3 percent. The numbers for July and August are still preliminary.
