Tourist attendance in France is expected to reach a new record in 2018, despite the impact of the movement of "yellow vests", and "neighbor" the 90 million international visitors, said Thursday the Secretary of State Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne. Chargé du Tourisme at the Quai d'Orsay, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne today chaired a steering committee for tourism - which meets every six months - which involved stakeholders in the sector (hotels, restaurants, tour operators, etc.). ) as well as elected representatives of local authorities. "We are heading towards a new record year, despite the December events related to 'yellow vests' and the Strasbourg bombing, and France remains attractive," the minister summed up.
100 million international tourists by 2020. In a statement, the Quai d'Orsay reports an increase in 2018 of "all the markets issuing tourists, for foreign attendance rising to around 90 million international visitors ". The Hexagon, the world's leading tourist destination, welcomed a total of 87 million foreign visitors in 2017, which was already a record. The government's goal - set before the attacks of 2015 - is to reach 100 million international tourists in 2020. "If the end-of-year events (movement of 'yellow vests', Strasbourg bombing) slowed the growth and caused some cancellations, the first indicators do not show strong stall while encouraging vigilance, "said the ministry.
Decline in Asian attendance. He pointed out that the European markets, which account for nearly 80% of international traffic in France, "have seen very moderate declines in traffic, with major cancellations in the long-haul markets, particularly in Asia, which are still increased sensitivity to security risk ". For the next two months, "reserved international air arrivals are down 5%, but rise again from March," said the Quai d'Orsay. According to the ministry, "the majority of the tour operators in the world remain confident in the destination France, their interrogations essentially on the sites opened or closed to the public during the week-ends". "All the tour operators agree on optimistic forecasts in 2019 if the social movements do not continue", summarizes the Quai.