What is the message behind the rise of gîtes?
One of the most remarkable developments of the last year has been the explosion of popularity of the gîte holiday. While France’s return to high levels of interest, demonstrated by a 93% rise in on-site searches, was somewhat expected as European travel returned to normality, the focus on the gîte was surprising. A mainstay of the travel landscape for Brits heading to France in the 80s and 90s, the gîte had slid down the rankings in recent years but are currently seeing a revival. Google keyword data shows searches for gîtes have risen by 87% YOY* and our own gîte-based content proved enormously popular, with an 87% rise in views across our collections, Detour articles and landing pages that promoted the place type.
Regional focus
The strongest search activity for gîtes centres on the regions of Brittany, Normandy and the Dordogne, although most searches are for France as a whole or with a pool. This is reflected in Sawday’s site usage, with the “French gites with pools” collection our highest performing organic ‘gîtes’ page. While this has not previously ranked highly against the rest of our pages, over the last 12 months it has been our fourth most popular collection across the whole of Sawday’s.
Why now and how can owners respond?
Perhaps these simple spaces and the laid-back lifestyle that gîtes represent are something that many people, exhausted by a time of deep unrest and uncertainty, are currently desperately craving. It can pay to think about the mindset of people looking for gîte stays and how that can be represented in other sectors. While France will always be the home of the gîte, there’s no reason that other regions and place types can’t tap into the spirit and catch at least a little of the wave.
