This is a new trend in France, where more and more child-free resorts and hotels are popping up. This has ignited a heated discussion, with opponents claiming that these institutions promote social bigotry. Since the Covid lockdowns, adult-only demand has skyrocketed. Consequently, federal and state policymakers, transit agencies, cities, and private companies are attempting to understand the impacts of these new business models.
In recent years, familism-free resorts have become more popular around the world, targeting holiday-makers who want an escape from familial pressure. Vincent Lagarde, an associate professor of entrepreneurship and new business ventures, has researched this growing market. He says tourists pick child-free resorts to get away from kids mainly for calm atmosphere and quiet. It’s not that they don’t love kids, they just want to relax.
Lagarde, who operates a bed-and-breakfast, says most of her guests are looking for an escape from their daily routines. “There is a kind of physical and mental exhaustion in French society right now, a need to switch off from professional and family burdens,” he stated. His findings suggest that more parents are taking vacations without their children in tow. Truthfully, one-third or more of them are tired and just looking for a little bit of relief.
Holidaymakers prefer adult-only venues because they focus on wanting quality experiences with their partners or friends. This ties it with safety as the second most common reason for this preference. As a 2014 poll found, 56% of moms and dads in France liked going on vacation without their children. These travels were almost exclusively for pleasure, as romantic escapes.
While adult-only places are becoming increasingly sought after, France has very little to provide within its tourism industry. In reality, these adult-only venues represent merely 3-5% of the market. Véronique Siegel, president of the hotel section of the UMIH trade union, stressed that child-free hotels remain “extremely rare.” This lack of resources is particularly glaring when you remember the millions of tourism businesses nationwide.
Marketing materials for child-free resorts often showcase serene images of adults lounging peacefully, far removed from the chaos typically associated with family vacations. Despite being a largely positive trend, this popular move has attracted critics. According to anthropologist Jean-Didier Urbain, this is part of a wider societal trend to seek as much comfort as possible.
“There’s a trend in society to seek more comfort and relaxation, more time to pause, and this is part of that,” Urbain noted, emphasizing that vacations are traditionally moments for individuals to detach from their social obligations.
At the political level, Sarah El Haïry is the French government’s high commissioner for childhood. She takes a principled stand against adult-only resorts. She warned that such establishments are “not part of [French] culture, not our philosophy and not what we want to see as the norm in our country.” Yet El Haïry’s fabulous new “Family Choice” label. This campaign is intended to encourage more child-friendly places throughout France as a result of the increasing desire and need for child-free environments.
El Haïry’s message to parents: vote for children’s friendly places that you like the most. This project is meant to showcase the importance of having kids in our public spaces. This project aims to push back against what many consider an increasing culture of exclusion found all around us.
Some of the harshest critics have taken it a step further, arguing that child-free resorts encourage discrimination. A French senator has recently proposed to ban adult-only hotels. He cautions that, without a concern for diverse perspectives, these places may instead nurture a society driven by intolerance and division. Laurence Rossignol, Secretary of State for Family and Childhood, explained that society could no longer keep children separated from adults. He referred to this exclusion as akin to places that do not allow dogs.
Talk of France’s child-free resorts have stirred up a firestorm of discussions. Many businesses contend these accommodations provide invaluable respite for weary parents seeking a weekend retreat. Lagarde’s study points out a surprising and positive trend. Parents, teachers and others who are around children all day every day may find themselves wondering about opportunities to be away from kids.
“It’s much more complex than simply not liking children,” Lagarde explained. What my research found was that most of these visitors are craving a few days without them.