France’s nudist federation has launched a drive to “spruce up” the image of naturism amid claims that holidaying in the nude is the reserve of the aged and voyeurs looking for free sex, reports The Telegraph.
The campaign comes as it has emerged that France is the world’s top nudist destination, with two million people, half of them foreign, flocking to nudist camps each year.
Since the first nudist camp was opened in France in 1950, there are now more than 100 centres of “naturisme”, as the French call it, around the country along as many beaches and rivers.
Despite its enduring success, the French nudist federation has decided it is time to help “spruce up” its image.
“Nudism, which is above all a philosophy of life in harmony with nature, suffers from a tarnished image, with some people wrongly associating nudity with sexual practices,” Armand Jamier, of the federation told Le Parisien newspaper.
He added: “Many people have the enduring feeling that (nudism) only interests the aged, whereas in the past five years, nudism has been attracting more and more families.”
The number flocking to nudist camps in France have risen by about eight per cent per year since 2009, he said, with many pulling in a new clientele with activities such as nude golf, volleyball or horse riding.
The young nudists’ association of France, AJNF, created four years ago for 14 to 27-year-olds, has multiplied efforts to bring in the younger generation, organising, for example, a walk in the Calanques de Marseille, the Mediterranean city’s famed nature reserve of cliffs, coves and forests.
Read more of this report from The Telegraph.