France has achieved its goals of remaining the most visited country in the world and welcoming over 100 million international tourists in 2024, the Ministry of Tourism has confirmed.
“While these figures confirm our position as the world’s leading destination, we must take a new step by becoming the leading sustainable tourism destination. We must meet a dual objective: capitalize on this year that made France shine throughout the world while supporting the transition of the sector,” French Tourism Minister Nathalie Delattre commented on the results.
1. Record spending
Fuelled by the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings and the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France exceeded the 100 million international visitors benchmark, with €71 billion in generated in international tourism revenue in 2024.
Belgians were the main visitors driving spending last year, together with the UK, Germany, Switzerland and the US, all spending between 5% and 15% more than in 2023. On the other hand, if Asian markets continue their rebound started 2 years ago, the revenue performances remain lower than those of 2019 (-60% for China and -30% for Japan).
And, while the €71 billion represents a record, average spending per visitor is lower than in other destinations, putting the country behind its rival for the top position, Spain, which cashed in €126 billion from only 94 million tourists last year.
🔴Conjoncture : année 2024 exceptionnelle, perspectives prometteuses pour 2025 ! Merci à tous les acteurs du tourisme contribuant à cette réussite collective. Continuons à travailler ensemble pour faire de 2025 une nouvelle année de succès pour le tourisme français ! 1/2 pic.twitter.com/4wAFirjzox
— Atout France (@atout_france) January 21, 2025
“While France is still the world leader in this sector, we are facing fierce competition, particularly from Spain,” Delattre told Le Figaro. “We need to work to increase the average each visitor spends and get our visitors to stay longer.”
2. Growth driven by Northern Europe and the US
In terms of sheer visitor numbers, Northern Europe and the US drove the growth. Overnight stays by Belgians increased by 5% compared to 2023, while those by Spaniards increased by 3%. North American countries remain, as they have been since the end of the pandemic, the driving forces for long-haul customers. Americans, with overnight stays up by 5%, are becoming an essential customer base driven by economic dynamics and a significant purchasing power differential, the ministry said in a statement.
Despite a significant growth from Asian countries, with overnight stays from China and Japan having increased 40% and 20% respectively in 2024 compared to the previous year, these markets have yet to return to their pre-Covid levels. Other major markets, such as India, Mexico, Canada and South Korea, are once again buoyant, according to the ministry.
The growth was further driven by a substantial winter boom, thanks to “exceptional snow” attracting ski enthusiast, with a 55% increase in arrivals for mountain destinations in December 2024 compared to the year before. This increase was particularly marked in mid-mountain resorts and during the second week of the school holidays, particularly in the Pyrenees, while, overall in the country, arrivals during the winter period stood 10% over 2023 figures, driven also by the New Year week.
With 350 ski resorts and 120,000 direct or indirect jobs, the French mountains are at the top of tourist destinations.
Nathalie Delattre, French Tourism Minister
Avec 350 stations de ski et 120 000 emplois directs ou indirects les montagnes françaises sont en tête des lieux touristiques. Avec @AnneMarty_Alti, nous avons évoqué ses nombreux enjeux : France simplification, les logements saisonniers, les JO 2030 dans les Alpes. pic.twitter.com/tl2kKjtyIp
— Nathalie Delattre (@n_delattre) January 20, 2025
“French and international tourists were there for the end-of-year holidays. These good performances, particularly in our mountains, round off a great year 2024, marked by an Olympic summer that made France shine all over the world,” said Christian Mantei, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Atout France – the French Tourism Agency. “The outlook is also positive for the coming months, with Paris in very good shape.”
3. 2025 outlook
“Very favourable” results are also expected in the first quarter of 2025. Judging by flight bookings, the number of inbound international visitors is bound to be 10% over previous year figures, with good performances from Americans (+15%), Brazilians and Indians (+7%) and Chinese (+16%).
Meanwhile, in Paris alone, the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in December is projected to maintain an increased occupancy rate in the capital’s hotels, with a 7% and 4% increased compared to 2024 for January and February respectively.
According to the Harris Interactive observatory for Atout France, travel intentions for winter holidays are also up compared to last year, a leisure stay in the mountains is preferred by a majority of French people in January (29%) and February (34%), ahead of the city and the seaside. This corresponds to an increase of 7% compared to last year.
