TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) - Fearing France's coming series of weekend elections might keep customers away, one hotelier is offering rooms at half price -- but only to holidaymakers who can prove they have cast their ballots.
The French will be called on to vote no fewer than four times in national elections between April and June, also a busy time for the country's tourist industry.
"I had to find a solution for these four upcoming weekends when we are normally almost 90 percent full, given that at each election our occupancy rate falls to less than 30 percent," said Renaud Jeanne, who runs a hotel in the southwestern town of Lacaune.
To benefit from the discount rate, guests will have to show they have filed the paperwork to vote by proxy, he said.
"I also didn't want to attract a clientele composed only of 'fishermen', as we call abstainers," Jeanne, whose "Relais de Fusies" has 30 rooms, told Reuters.
Voters in France generally cast their ballot at a polling station near their home, unless they vote by proxy.
The presidential election will be held in two rounds on April 22 and May 6, while a parliamentary vote will take place on June 10 and 17.
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