Strasbourg on August 27, 2015. Illustration of tourism and activities in the city.

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If the "attendance was overall better than expected" in France, international tourism receipts fell 49.4% from January to the end of July 2020 in France because of the pandemic, according to a report presented to the Council of Ministers , this Wednesday.

According to the document presented by Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Secretary of State in charge of Tourism, international revenues thus amounted to “16.7 billion euros against 33.1 billion euros” over the same period of seven months in 2019.

"Between 50 and 60 billion euros" of tourist losses in France

These figures echo those published the day before by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) which reported a loss of 460 billion dollars for the sector in the first half of the year.

Regarding the spending of French people abroad from January to the end of July 2020, they reached "14.4 billion euros against 26.1 billion" last year, a decline of 44.7%, indicates the balance sheet.

But in France, the expected fall in tourist spending in 2020, French and foreigners included, is more limited, between -30% and -35%, with “potential losses in overall tourism revenue” estimated over the year by Atout France to an amount “between 50 and 60 billion euros”.

Because the assessment of the 2020 summer tourist season shows that attendance in France was overall better than expected last spring, according to the document presented to the Council of Ministers.

Events and tour operators particularly affected

While the French have "massively stayed in France (94% of those who left remained in France)", France however resisted better than its neighbors, especially Spain and Italy, which recorded in July , the first month of real recovery in international mobility, "with -75% in international traffic (…) for Spain, and -66% in foreign demand in Italy".

In July in France, the decline was 41% in terms of international tourism receipts.

The level of tourist activity in July in France "increased late but noticeably from July 20 to achieve correct occupancy rates during the first two weeks of August in collective commercial accommodation", further notes the report .

The coastline and the countryside were the most popular, while Corsica, the overseas territories and the big cities were more neglected.

“In addition to the hotel industry in Paris and in the large metropolises, two sectors are proving to be particularly weakened”, namely events as well as travel and holiday operators (OVS), underlines the assessment by quantifying the decline in activity respectively at -70% and -90%.

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