2024, a record year for international tourism in France

With the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, the 80 years of the Landing, “the year 2024 has been incredible and exceptional for France”. As the French Minister in charge of tourism puts, “these figures confirm our position as leading global destination, and we must build on this year’s results that improve France’s image worldwide”. 

Over 100 million international tourists

Indeed for France the year 2024 has been rich. The year has been marked by sports and cultural events and boosted international markets. French tourism benefitted from “strong dynamism and an exceptional showcase throughout the world”.

This taste generated concrete results: France welcomed more than 100 million international tourists. In terms of attendance, international attendance is growing, mostly pushed by customers from Northern Europe and the United States. As the ministry puts, North America countries “are still, since the end of the pandemic, the engines of long-haul customers”. With a 5% increase of nights spent, Americans became “a key customers group boosted by wide differences between economies and purchasing power”. In addition, “Asian countries experimented a boost in terms of nights spent in 2024”, particularly China (+40%) and Japan (+20%). Finally, India, Mexico, Canada and South Korea are once again buoyant markets. 

Record international revenue

In terms of revenue, the Ministry in charge of tourism celebrates “the highest ever” international revenue, “a record reaching 71 billion euros” a figure up by 12% compared with 2023, with a positive Travel item in the balance of payments over 15 billion euros (difference between revenue generated by foreign traveller in France and spending of the French abroad).

Five countries are the main “revenue providers” for France: Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland and the United States, up from 5% to 15% compared with 2023. France is still the leading destination for Belgians.

However, says the ministry, “though Asian markets continue their pickup started two years ago, performance in revenue is still inferior to those in 2019” (-60% for China, and -30% for Japan). 

Boosted attractiveness and confirmed pickup in late year

The trend continued throughout the year, with a significant tourism pickup registered for the late year holidays, boosted by ski stations and the increase of international attendance experimenting a +10% growth compared with last year. This upturn “can be attributed to this unprecedented and exceptional year for France, which considerably boosted its appeal on the international stage, as well as to the good snow conditions during the period”.

International attendance was also up sharply during this period, with European and long-haul customers showing good momentum across the board (rural, coastal, urban and mountain). English customers are on the increase, as well as Italian, Swiss, Spanish, Dutch and German customers (all up sharply). “Far-away markets” such as Japan, Australia and China are also up, while “the United States market is stable and Canada is receding”.

Good prospects for 2025

According to the French Ministry of the Economy, the “first estimates drawn from the field” show that initial trends for French tourism in the first quarter of 2025 are very favourable.

For example, international air arrivals are up by 10% over the first three weeks of the year compared with last year, with strong performances from Americans (+15%), Brazilians and Indians (+7%) and Chinese (+16%). More specifically, the Paris dynamic is still going strong, boosted by a post-Olympic Games period and the reopening of Notre-Dame: more than seven points in hotel occupancy rates are expected in January 2025, and four points ahead in terms of booking rates for next February.