To mark the 80th Anniversary of D-Day, visitors from all over the world gathered in Normandy to commemorate the largest military operation in modern history.
With the numerous official ceremonies, historical exhibitions and re-enactments, Normandy was in the spotlight throughout an intense week, particularly from 5 to 7 June, when the moving images of the tributes paid to the soldiers and veterans by many heads of state were relayed around the world. To measure the impact of this event, Normandy Tourism has used a number of indicators to draw up an overview of the period from 1 to 9 June 2024.
Flux Vision Tourisme, the mobile data observation tool specially developed for over a hundred towns around the five D-Day landing beaches, was used to record the movements of people in the area over the 9 days studied.
A total of 2.5 million visits from French and foreign tourists and day-trippers were recorded between 1 and 9 June, with over 755,000 unique visitors. Over 300,000 visits per day were recorded between 5 and 8 June, with a peak of 351.7 thousand on 6 June.
Tourist overnight stays doubled between 1 and 9 June 2024 compared with the same period in 2023 and 2022. Sainte-Mère-Eglise, Caen and Grandcamp-Maisy are the towns recording the highest number of overnight stays between 1 and 9 June.
The commemorations of the 80th Anniversary of D-Day provide an opportunity to strengthen international ties by reminding us that the victory on D-Day was the result of international cooperation. Over the whole period, 56.6% of visitors are of foreign nationality. Of these, 30.5% are American, 18.9% British and 11.2% German. The Dutch, Belgians, Poles, Italians, Czechs, Canadians and Spanish rounded out the top 10 foreign visitors. On 6 June alone, the day on which the 4 international ceremonies took place at Ver-Sur-Mer, Courseulles-Sur-Mer, Omaha Beach American Cemetery and Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, international visitors accounted for 65.3% of all visitors to the study area.
80e Anniversary of D-Day: record attendance for this outstanding event!
The faces of the younger generation, with their eyes full of respect and admiration for the many veterans who made the journey to Normandy, added a dimension of hope and continuity to these commemorations. While the veterans were given a special place of honour during the week, it was the people of Normandy who did their best to ensure that they received a fabulous welcome. The majority of visitors were from Normandy: 43.1% of French tourists and day-trippers came from the region. If we look at the overnight stays made by visitors during the event, almost 91% of them were in Normandy, and particularly in the coastal towns of Calvados and La Manche (on the night of 5 to 6 June, this proportion rose to 96.0%).
More than a year in advance, some travellers rushed to book accommodation as close as possible to the D-Day Landing Beaches to mark the 80th Anniversary.
Over the whole period, hotels in the study area recorded an occupancy rate of 90.1%, with a peak of 99.1% on the evenings of 5 and 6 June! The event's impact was felt throughout the Calvados and Manche hotel sectors, with occupancy rates of 80.2% over the period as a whole, and as high as 97.0% on the evenings of 5 and 6 June. Furnished rental accommodation was also very busy: on the night of 5 to 6 June, almost 3,000 properties were booked, with an occupancy rate of over 83% - a record figure given the number of properties rented out especially for the event, which was quantified at 1,500 more than a year earlier.
All these figures illustrate the importance of this intense week in June, which raised Normandy's profile internationally and showcased exceptional images of very moving ceremonies, outstanding re-enactments and intergenerational sharing. The 80th Anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy will take place throughout 2024, with an exceptional programme of events at all the region's memorial sites.
Tens of thousands of travellers are expected to be welcomed by the entire Normandy tourist community to enjoy this exceptional event throughout the seasons.
