Due to the movement of "yellow vests" that has affected attendance, but also the decline of the pound linked to the prospect of Brexit, France no longer hopes to reach in 2020 its goal of welcoming 100 million foreign tourists.
"France still has a target of welcoming 100 million foreign tourists" but "however, has pushed the target, given the current situation, to 2022," says a document attached to the Budget 2020 project dedicated to tourism, posted on Tuesday.
A goal set in 2014 by Laurent Fabius
The objective of 100 million international visitors by 2020 - against 89 million in 2018 - was set in 2014 by Laurent Fabius, then foreign minister, before the attacks of 2015 which had caused an air hole for tourism and broken the progression of attendance.
Tuesday, the document dedicated to tourism policy in the context of the draft finance law for 2020, highlights the fact that "the indicators for the first months of 2019 suggest a decrease in international tourist traffic for the first semester ".
"This trend can largely be explained by national social movements"
"This trend can largely be explained by the national-scale social movements that hit the country at the beginning of the year and impacted medium and long-term bookings, as well as the effects of the decline in the pound. the United Kingdom being our first tourist market ", it is specified.
The document also states that "the 2019 forecast requires a downward update".
According to INSEE, the impact of the demonstrations related to "yellow vests" was clearly felt in the tourism sector from December 2018, but also continued in the first quarter of 2019, with a drop of 2 , 5% of hotel attendance, and a decline in overnight stays particularly marked in Île-de-France (-4.6%).