More than half of the international tourists visiting France last year were convinced to visit the country after watching a French film or TV series, according to a recent study from the French National Centre of Cinema (CNC).
The CNC periodically surveys international visitors to assess the impact of French cinema on tourism. The tourists were asked if they had seen any of 10 films and 10 TV series in their own countries before visiting France and 86% said they had. Of those, 80% said the production they had seen made them want to visit the country, meaning 68% of all international tourists to France were determined to visit the country by a film or TV series.
In detail, 76% of the survey respondents said they had watched at least one of the listed French films in their own country, the most popular ones being “Intouchables” and “Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain“. TV series received slightly less exposure, with only 56% of the foreign tourists saying they had watched at least one before visiting France. The most viewed series were: Versailles, Marie-Antoinette, le Transporteur, Dix pour cent, le Bureau des Légendes.
The most common means of watching both films and tv series were streaming platforms, with 68% of the people saying that is how they watched the productions, a great increase from only 24% in the previous survey of 2018. Watching on television and going to the cinema each accounted for 35% and 32%, respectively.
Regardless of the means of consuming the media, the study found that the incentive to visit France increases with repeated exposure to French cinema. The Spanish are among the most exposed and most receptive to French cinema, however, interestingly, the Chinese are among the least exposed, but highly influenced by the productions.
The study also looked into the length of stay and budget of the tourists and found that Chinese and Americans stay longer on French territory than tourists from European countries, and their stay is more often the very first in France. The budget spent on site for these longer trips is also more substantial, with the average spent per trip for Chinese and Americans being €3,353, excluding plane tickets. Brits, Belgians, Spanish and Germans are less likely to stay more than one week in France and only spend an average of €1,048 per trip.
Separately, the CNC looked at the influence of on tourism of international films and TV series filmed in France, with 80% of the foreign tourists surveyed said they had watched at least one production. The “Da Vinci Code”, “Mission Impossible: Fallout” and “The Devil Wears Prada” are the most popular movies, while “Lupin” and “Emily in Paris” are the most popular TV series. From those having watched a production filmed in France, 80% (meaning 64% off all the surveyed foreign tourists) said they were influenced by it to visit the country.
Cinema also contributed to domestic tourism, with 63% of the 256 French people surveyed saying they visited film locations after watching a French movie or TV series.
