What do the French give up when holidays and restaurants cost too much? For the first wave of the Nabel Travel & Dining Tracker, we interviewed 156 people who choose their household’s holidays, all of them in a voice interview with the Nabel agent.
BAROMETER
Keep the Trip, Cut the ExtrasHospitality & Travel · France
Sept 2026 fieldwork · 156 respondents · 20 min median interview
Too expensive, and going anyway.
83%
find holidays too expensive, yet 90% plan to go away again in the next twelve months.
70%
find restaurant prices too high. Drinks and desserts are the first things they cut.
44%
stayed in a private rental in the past year, often to cook rather than eat out every day.
69%
booked their last stay on a platform, 24% directly. Booking.com is the first choice for 42%.
You have to ask for bread. You have to ask for a jug of water. We have to chase them for things that are included in the price, after all.
Respondent aged 35–54, talking to the Nabel agent · quote translated from French, audio shortened
Methodology
Mainland France · 11–13 Sept 2026
156
respondents who had a paid night away in the past year, ate out in the past three months and choose their household’s holidays
105
complete voice interviews with the Nabel agent, plus 51 partial ones kept question by question
20 min
median length of a complete interview
3 days
of fieldwork in mainland France
What they give up, and what would earn their trust
The full report goes further. 30 pages, in French:
- 8 findings on budgets, booking channels, restaurants and AI
- Travellers’ own words, transcribed word for word
- 3 opportunities and recommendations for hotels, restaurants and travel platforms
- Full methodology and sample limitations