At a time when, in the light of the health crisis, a radical change in tourism practices is being prophesied towards proximity tourism, we wanted to measure the extent to which the French individuals who travel the most (described here as hypermobiles), intend to modify – or not – their practices._x000D_
The analysis was conducted in two stages. A first quantitative analysis based on multivariate statistical treatments allowed us to determine the profile of hypermobile travellers. This allowed us to select a panel of people with whom we conducted semi-structured interviews that allowed us to analyse household practices before and during the pandemic, and planned trips._x000D_
The use of interviews helped us to understand the meaning given to tourists’ practices and the value placed on their mobilities. The modes of transport preferred by the people respond to a set of constraints (linked to the location of the households, their destination, the composition of the households, etc.). Specific questions in the interviews dealt with the environmental dimension in order to measure interviewees’ awareness of sustainable development issues in their daily life and in their tourist travels._x000D_
Although almost all the people interviewed consider that they have pro-environmental principles in their daily lives, these considerations take a set back when it comes to tourists’ trips where other motivations dominate. Similarly, the obligation to limit travel during the health crisis does not call into question long-distance travel, which has simply been postponed._x000D_
Our analysis therefore reveals that external events and societal pressures have little impact on the tourist mobility of these hypermobiles. The sense of tourism, the release of constraints and, more particularly, the practice of discovery, take precedence on constraints, particularly economic ones, when they are weak or non-existent._x000D_

Veronique Mondou, Isabelle Frochot, Philippe Violier
Université d’Angers, Université de Bourgogne, Université d’Angers

 
ID Abstract: 240