Camper vans on the road in France boost local economy

Camper vans have taken France by storm, with more and more travellers taking to the road in mobile homes on wheels.

So far, 610,000 vehicles have been registered in 2024, and no business or local town hall can ignore the growing population of camper van holiday makers and its estimated €1.5 billion market.

Massive growth

Camper van company Trigano recorded 20% more sales during the first semester of 2024. 

The second-hand market is also on the rise, with companies like Easy Rachat Camping-car. Website Le Bon Coin said that second-hand camper vans have never been in so much demand.

Camping-car Magazine has reported huge traffic on its website, and organisers of the Salon des véhicules de loisirs, the annual industry reunion in Paris, has grown year on year.

Read more: French licence swap leaves Briton unable to drive €100,000 campervan

The market is no longer driven by early French retirees during the summer seasons. There are more and more younger families in the summer, while out of season the market has a growing regional clientele.

“I am close to a triple-digit growth,” said Thomas Jouvet, owner of L’Etape du camping-car, a specialist store in Avranches (Manche) which supplies products to camper van drivers.

Mr Jouvet’s shop is strategically situated on the outskirts of Avranches at the crossroads of one motorway and two departmental roads that are frequented by campers, most notably Brits arriving by boat.

“People had to drive 100 kilometres to find the nearest shop for their supplies. I thought they should have something closer,” he said.

Public spaces aimed at camper vans – offering utilities such as electricity and running water – are also on the up.

Camping-Car Park has been the most visible company in recent years. It offers many of the most often requested utilities on more than 500 public spaces – one eighth of all such sites in France. A pitch costs an average of €12 per night.

Read more: How to explore France in a campervan or motorhome

Repurposed spaces

Company press releases state that they recorded 3.3 million nights in 2023. Camping-Car Park’s business model is based on a mutual partnership with local town mairies, in which they turn unused spaces into facilities for camper van owners. 

The mairie receives two thirds of the turnover, and Camping-Car Park takes the other third.

“We are a nation of small villages and medieval towns that generate a lot of tourism activity, but all these spaces are narrow and undrivable for camping cars,” said Audrey Barbier Litvak, the newly appointed director of Camping-Car Park.

These public areas are often green fields on the outskirts or decaying town centre car parks that are redesigned. Nouvelle Aquitaine, Occitanie and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes are the most frequented regions, studies conducted by Camping-Car Park found.

Read more: ‘A weekend camping 12 minutes away from our French home - why not?’

In Calais and Biarritz for instance, Camping-Car Park has negotiated spaces within the city, boosting local consumption, but it is also eyeing up expansion in the Ile-de-France and Grand Est regions.

Ms Barbier Litvak said that camper van travellers have very specific behaviour, driving as many kilometres as they can in an area to get to know the region to its fullest.

“I get the impression that French people and foreigners want to discover French regions in a totally different way,” said Mr Jouvet.