"The climate is the same as back home in California!": More and more Americans are vacationing in the Eastern Var

In phonetics, we call this a rhotic "r." It's one of the main characteristics of the American accent, distinguishing it from British English—in short. And this sound, whether on the beaches or in the shops of the Eastern Var region, seems to have been heard more and more over the past few months. Especially if we believe many tourism professionals.

"We definitely have more Americans this year than in previous years," assures Matteo, at the reception of the Excelsior hotel in Saint-Raphaël. "A real boom. The number of blue passports I've photocopied, if you only knew!" And right next door, on the terrace, on this Wednesday afternoon, it's the Canadians who seem to be there in large numbers, according to the waiters.

"Especially since June, we've noticed customers coming from faraway countries that we didn't see or saw very little of before: Brazilians, Emiratis, Australians... And also clearly more Americans than in previous years," says Pascal Douzou, owner of the hotel-restaurant Le Beau Séjour, in Saint-Raphaël. "Normally, Americans stay in Nice and the surrounding area, but now our area is attracting them more than before..."

More than just an impression, also confirmed by Marlène Hoarau, one of the managers of the Hôtel de Flore, in downtown Saint-Raphaël. "Yes, we're seeing more Americans than before; they all seem to love our area; they associate Saint-Raphaël with the Côte d'Azur."

Between two poles of attraction

"In the years before Covid, we had around 10% of our customers from outside Europe," Pascal Douzou calculates. "This year, especially since June, I don't have the exact figure, but it's well over 10%."

For his part, Jean-Pierre Ghiribelli, president of the Var Hotel Industry Trades Union (Umih 83) makes the same observation: "It's true that colleagues are seeing more Americans in the Var this year, especially in the East Var. It's a good thing they're here, because this year 2025, in terms of tourist numbers, is not really meeting our expectations for the moment..."

How can we explain this sudden attraction to the Eastern Var region? Jean-Pierre Ghiribelli has his own idea: "It's a wealthy clientele, who have always been used to frequenting Saint-Tropez on one side, and Cannes-Nice-Monaco on the other. However, the Eastern Var region is right between these two poles of attraction. And, these days, younger generations of Americans like to get off the beaten track a little and now easily leave these two poles. Moreover, the rather bad weather since the beginning of the year has impacted tourism here. Except for those outside Europe, since by coming from far away, they don't choose their destination based on the weather of the day or the week, as a French or European would do."

In Fréjus, a twin town of Fredericksburg, Virginia, the American lifestyle in France is also well known. Claire Mouton and Maryse Rigoulot, heads of the American side of the twinning committee, also attest that "the Americans here are very interested in history—they admire Fréjus's 2,000 years of history!—and were also struck by the recent 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Provence last year. In addition, the older generations absolutely wanted to see Monaco for Grace Kelly, while the younger generation is more attracted to places like Saint-Tropez, and therefore passes through the Eastern Var region."

"I think there's also an Olympic Games effect," adds Pascal Douzou. "It reminded the whole world that France was a magnificent country to visit! It's good, especially since the American tourist is really relaxed and takes his time: he enjoys what he thinks is the French art of living. And he has the means!"

" They're the ones who take the most expensive rooms ," adds Matteo from the Excelsior.