The growth observed in January was confirmed in February. Business destinations, particularly in regional France, benefitted from the staggering of winter school holidays, unlike in 2010. In 2011, school holiday periods in regional France fell in February and March, rather than purely in February, as was the case last year. Given this, business guests were more present in February of this year.

Furthermore, although Paris was already recovering in February 2010, hotel performances in regional France were still down. Consequently, regional hotels have more room for improvement than Parisian hotels. Regional hotels (outside the Côte d’Azur) thus posted higher growth than those in the Paris area – up +5% in the 2 star segment and +17% in the upscale category. This was particularly the case for major cities, as witnessed by the double-digit growth recorded in Avignon, Lyon, Toulouse, Nantes, Rennes, Rouen and Metz, for instance.