France, which welcomed 100 million foreign visitors in 2024, maintains its position as the world’s leading destination, but remains in competition with Spain which, “with fewer visitors, generates more revenue”.
While global tourism returned to its pre-Covid-19 level in 2024 with 1.4 billion tourists having taken a trip abroad, according to UN Tourism, France and Spain successively announced records of attendance.
France welcomed 2 million more visitors compared to 2023. It collected revenue of 71 billion euros.
“If France is still a world leader in this sector, we face very strong competition, particularly from Spain which, with fewer visitors, manages to generate more revenue,” declared French Tourism Minister Nathalie Delattre in an interview. Tuesday in the daily Le Figaro.
With 94 million foreign visitors, Spain raked in 126 billion euros in revenue.
“This comes partly from the fact that visitors stay longer. More than the number of tourists, it is the expenditure generated which is important. We must therefore work with the aim of increasing the average basket per visitor and making our customers stay visitors for longer,” said the French minister.
“We are increasingly competing with countries in the south” of Europe, such as Italy, Spain or Greece, Dominique Marcel, president of the Alliance France Tourisme, a think tank, declared in mid-April. which brings together companies such as Accor, SNCF Connect and Compagnie des Alpes.
According to him, we “must capitalize as best as possible on the Olympic Games effect” and investments and mobilization of all stakeholders are necessary.
To succeed in attracting customers for longer, the minister in office since the end of December announces a “double priority: making France the leading sustainable tourism destination by 2030 and improving the hotel offer”.
“We need to build new hotels, particularly high-end hotels,” she says. “There are 31 palaces in France, and 18 candidates for the distinction this year. This is good news. But we must work on all ranges and overall, we have an aging fleet of hotels and restaurants “, she adds.
Good outlook
In 2024, “for all international customers, overnight stays are up 7.3%, driven by rental accommodation (+16.4%)”, according to a press release from the Ministry of Tourism.
-Americans, “with overnight stays up 5%, are becoming an essential clientele” with strong purchasing power, it is specified.
International revenues increased by a total of 12% year-on-year, driven by Belgian, English, German, Swiss and American customers. Asian customers are returning to France but the number of Chinese visitors remains 60% lower than before the pandemic. Japanese visitors are 30% fewer than in 2019.
The end-of-year holidays saw “a significant tourist rebound driven by ski resorts and the increase in international attendance” thanks in particular to good snow cover.
The occupancy rate of ski resorts rose over the period to 85% for all commercial accommodation combined, up 3 points compared to 2023.
International attendance is up 10% compared to last year while French customers show an increase of 2%.
“The outlook for the first quarter of 2025 is very good with attendance on the rise,” adds the press release.
International air arrivals are up 10% in the quarter compared to 2024, with an increase of 15% in American visitors, 7% in Brazilian and Indian visitors and 16% in Chinese.
The hotel occupancy rate in the capital is up 7 points in January 2025 and 4 points in February.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / afp
