France ‘on track to break its own tourist records in 2025'
France has held the title of the world's most visited tourism spot since 2016, and
new Economic Impact Research, produced in collaboration with Oxford Economics, confirms that in 2024, travel and tourism in France broke all previous records across economic contribution, employment, and visitor spending.
The sector contributed €266.2 billion to the French economy, the report said, 10.1 percent higher than 2019 levels and equivalent to 9.1 percent of the country's GDP. It supported three million jobs in 2024, a figure that is up 300,000 on 2019.
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International visitor spending reached €72.5 billion, while domestic visitor spending climbed to €142.1 billion, reflecting strong and balanced demand, seeing a hike of 7.1 percent and 5.7 percent on peak levels, respectively.
French tourism has long been strongly supported by domestic tourism - in total only around 30 percent of tourists in the country have come from overseas, and it is common for French families to take long summer holidays in France, usually by the sea or in the mountains.
And
World Travel and Tourism Council
projections predict that France's upward trajectory will improve across the board.
According to the numbers, the sector is forecast to contribute €274.2 billion to the country's GDP, or a 9.3 percent share of the economy, while employment is expected to reach 3.1 million jobs – or nearly one in 10 of the working population in France.
International visitor spending is projected to rise to €75.1 billion, with domestic spend reaching €144.2 billion.
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