Sales of package tours in French travel agencies, both physical and online, rose by 2.8% in September 2026 compared to September 2025, according to the Orchestra barometer for L'Écho touristique, after a rise of 7.3% in August. Bookings are mainly in autumn-winter and come from customers with less tight budgets than those in summer.
Metropolitan France (+6.1%), Spain (+6%) and Tunisia (+8.2%) occupy the podium, followed by Egypt (+24.7%). The Dominican Republic, in 5th place despite a 5.1% decrease, is the first long-haul destination of the month. Finland registers the biggest increase in the top 20 (+37.4%), despite an increase of 11.4% in the average basket, and Japan rises 31.2%, probably due to the recovery of trips cancelled in the spring, when the conflict in the Middle East disrupted flights with stopovers in the Persian Gulf. Mexico (-17%), Turkey (-16.6%) and the United States (-13.3%) are falling.
Portugal occupies the 17th place, with a booking turnover of -1% and an average basket of -0.1%, that is, a practically stable market. The medium-haul goes from 48.4% to 51.3% of bookings, while metropolitan France drops from 34.2% to 30.8% and the long-haul rises from 17.4% to 17.9%. This shift in French demand to the medium haul reinforces direct competition from Mediterranean destinations such as Spain, Tunisia, Egypt and Greece.
