Tiphaine Dubuard, with AFP / Photo credits: Laure Boyer / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 3:28 p.m., March 22, 2024
With 63.5 billion euros spent by foreign visitors, international tourism receipts broke a new record in France last year. Belgian tourists top the ranking with 8.2 billion spent, followed by the British (7.2 billion), the Swiss and the Germans (tied with 6.5 billion).
International tourism receipts broke a new record in France last year, with 63.5 billion euros spent by foreign visitors,
Les Echos
reported on Thursday . In 2023, the year in which France notably hosted the Rugby World Cup on its soil, tourism receipts recorded an increase of 12% compared to 2022, according to the economic daily which cites data from the Bank of France.
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After reaching 56.7 billion euros in 2019, spending by foreign tourists had fallen to 28.5 billion in 2020 and 34.5 billion in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic. In detail, in 2023, Belgian tourists arrive at the top of the ranking, with 8.2 billion spent, followed by the British (7.2 billion), the Swiss and the Germans (tied with 6.5 billion).
The return of Asian customers is still awaited
American tourists confirm their return, with 6.2 billion euros spent on French soil, compared to 5.5 billion last year and 4.1 billion in 2019. The return of Asian customers is, however, still awaited , with 1.2 billion euros spent by Chinese tourists last year.
France is the world's leading tourist destination, according to the ranking of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). France will host the Olympic Games this summer but also the 80th anniversary of the Landings of June 6, 1944 in Normandy, and should receive more than 100 million tourists in 2024, according to the government.