Tourism in France

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Mont Saint-Michel, Manche Mont-Saint-Michel vu du ciel.jpg
Mont Saint-Michel, Manche
Scandola Nature Reserve, Corsica Osani marine d'Elbo.jpg
Scandola Nature Reserve, Corsica
Palace of Versailles, Yvelines Vue aerienne du domaine de Versailles par ToucanWings - Creative Commons By Sa 3.0 - 081.jpg
Palace of Versailles, Yvelines

Tourism in France directly contributed 79.8 billion euros to gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013, 30% of which comes from international visitors and 70% from domestic tourism spending. The total contribution of travel and tourism represents 9.7% of GDP and supports 2.9 million jobs (10.9% of employment) in the country. [1] Tourism contributes significantly to the balance of payments.

Contents

France was visited by 100 million foreign tourists in 2023, making it the most visited country in the world. [2]

France has 45 sites inscribed in the UNESCO's World Heritage List and features cities or sites of high cultural interest (Paris being the foremost, but also Loire Valley, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Lyon and others), beaches and seaside resorts, ski resorts, as well as rural regions that many enjoy for their beauty and tranquility (green tourism). Small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage (such as Collonges-la-Rouge, Locronan, or Montsoreau) are promoted through the association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (literally "The Most Beautiful Villages of France"). The "Remarkable Gardens" label is a list of the over two hundred gardens classified by the Ministry of Culture. This label is intended to protect and promote remarkable gardens and parks.

Statistics

Most tourists arriving to France in 2018 came from the following countries or territories: [3]

RankCountry or territoryNumber of tourists
1Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 13,000,000
2Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 12,300,000
3Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium

Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg

11,600,000
4Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 7,000,000
5Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland 6,800,000
6Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 6,700,000
7Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 4,700,000
8Flag of the United States.svg  United States 4,500,000
Total89,300,000

Number of stays

In 2019, tourists from the following countries spent the most nights in France: [4]

RankCountry/Continent/TerritoryNumber of nights
1Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 19,800,000
2Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 18,200,000
3Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 17,900,000
4Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 13,400,000
5Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States 10,100,000
6Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 8,300,000
7Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 7,100,000
8Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 6,100,000
9 Oceania 5,300,000
10Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 3,600,000
12 Central America & South America 3,400,000
13 Middle East & Far East 3,100,000
13 Africa 2,300,000
14 Scandinavia 1,900,000
15Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 1,600,000
#Total136,800,000

Touristic regions

Paris

The Eiffel Tower seen from the Place du Trocadero Anthony DELANOIX 2015-05-10 (Unsplash).jpg
The Eiffel Tower seen from the Place du Trocadéro

Paris, the capital city of France, is the third most visited city in the world. [5]

It has some of the world's largest and renowned museums, including the Louvre, which is the most visited art museum in the world, but also the Musée d'Orsay which, like the nearby Musée de l'Orangerie, is mostly devoted to impressionism, and Centre Georges Pompidou, dedicated to Contemporary art.

Paris hosts some of the world's most recognizable landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, which is the most-visited paid monument in the world, [6] the Arc de Triomphe, the cathedral of Notre-Dame, or the Sacré-Cœur on Montmartre. The Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, located in Parc de la Villette, is the biggest science museum in Europe. [7] Near Paris are located the Palace of Versailles, the former palace of the Kings of France, now a museum, and the medieval village of Provins. Both attractions are protected as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

French Riviera

Saint-Tropez on the Cote d'Azur Saint Tropez Eglise.jpg
Saint-Tropez on the Côte d'Azur

With more than 10 million tourists a year, the French Riviera (French: Côte d'Azur), in Southeastern France, is the second leading tourist destination in the country, after the Parisian region. [8]

According to the Côte d'Azur Economic Development Agency, it benefits from 300 days of sunshine per year, 115 kilometres (71 mi) of coastline and beaches, 18 golf courses and 3,000 restaurants. [9] Each year the Côte d'Azur hosts 50% of the world's superyacht fleet, with 90% of all superyachts visiting the region's coast at least once in their lifetime. [10]

Main cities on the French Riviera include Nice, Antibes and Cannes; Cap Ferrat is also a popular destination. Cannes hosts the annual Cannes Film Festival. Tourists often visit Port-Cros National Park, east of Toulon, as well as the city-state of Monaco, famous for its Monte Carlo Casino, near the Italian border.

Provence

Paysage provencal Armee de lavande.jpg
Paysage provençal

A large part of Provence, with Marseille as its leading city, was designed as the 2013 European Capital of Culture. Numerous famous natural sites can be found in the region, as the Gorges du Verdon, the Camargue, the Calanques National Park and the typical landscape of Luberon. Provence hosts dozens of renowned historical sites like the Pont du Gard, the Arles' Roman Monuments or the Palais des Papes in Avignon. Several smaller cities also attracts a lot of tourists, like Aix-en-Provence, La Ciotat or Cassis, on the Mediterranean Sea coastline.

Loire Valley

Chateau de Chenonceau, Loire Valley Chenonceau Castle02.jpg
Château de Chenonceau, Loire Valley

Another major destination are the Châteaux (castles) of the Loire Valley. The French Revolution saw a number of the great French châteaux destroyed and many ransacked, their treasures stolen. The overnight impoverishment of many of the deposed nobility, usually after one of its members lost his or her head to the guillotine, saw many châteaux demolished.

During World War I and World War II, some chateaux were commandeered as military headquarters. Some of these continued to be used this way after the end of the Second World War.

This World Heritage Site is noteworthy for the quality of its architectural heritage, in its historic towns such as Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Orléans, and Saumur, but in particular for its castles, such as the Châteaux d'Amboise, de Chambord, d'Ussé, de Villandry, de Chenonceau and de Montsoreau, which illustrate to an exceptional degree the ideals of the French Renaissance.

French Alps

Aiguille du Midi L122 - Passerelle aiguille du Midi.JPG
Aiguille du Midi

The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as the Mont Blanc massif, are shared with Switzerland and Italy.

More than 20 skiing resorts make it a popular destination among Europeans in the winter.

Corsica

Corsican landscape 000 Calanques de Piana JPG.jpg
Corsican landscape

Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea after Sicily, Sardinia and Cyprus. It is a popular attraction for tourists with both cultural aspects (with its main cities Ajaccio and Bastia and smaller towns like Porto-Vecchio and Sartène) and geographical features (Parc naturel régional de Corse).

The Calanques de Piana and Scandola Nature Reserve are listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The island is 183 kilometres (114 miles) long at longest, 83 kilometres (52 miles) wide at widest, has 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) of coastline, more than 200 beaches, and is very mountainous, with Monte Cinto as the highest peak at 2,706 metres (8,878 feet) and around 120 other summits of more than 2,000 metres (6,600 feet).

Mountains comprise two-thirds of the island, forming a single chain. Forests make up 20% of the island.

Other tourist attractions

Notable places

Cities

France has many cities of cultural interest, some of them are classified as "Town of Art and History" by the French Ministry of Culture. All major cities in France are worth seeing since they all have cultural and historic attributes.

Villages

Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (English: "The most beautiful villages of France") is an independent association, created in 1982, that aims to promote small and picturesque French villages of quality heritage. As of 2008, 152 villages in France have been labelled as the "Plus Beaux Villages de France".

There are a few criteria before entering the association: the population of the village must not exceed 2,000 inhabitants, there must be at least two protected areas (picturesque or legendary sites, or sites of scientific, artistic or historic interest), and the decision to apply must be taken by the municipal council.

Specific destinations

Religious sites

France attracts many religious pilgrims along the Way of St. James, or to Lourdes, a town in the Hautes-Pyrénées that hosts a few million visitors a year. [11] The Taizé Community has become one of the world's most important sites of Christian pilgrimage. Over 100,000 young people from around the world make pilgrimages to Taizé each year for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and communal work.

Theme parks

Disneyland Paris is France's and Europe's most popular theme park, with 15,405,000 combined visitors to the resort's Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park in 2009. [12] In 2019, the park attracted over 9.7 million visitors, more than the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, or the Palace of Versailles. [13] The historical theme park Puy du Fou in Vendée is the second most visited park of France. [14] Other popular theme parks are the Futuroscope of Poitiers, Vulcania in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Parc Astérix near Paris.

The most popular tourist sites include (visitors per year): [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Château</span> French term for a manor house

A château is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maine-et-Loire</span> Department of France in Pays de la Loire

Maine-et-Loire is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-et-Loire to the east, Vienne and Deux-Sèvres to the south, Vendée to the south-west, and Ille-et-Vilaine to the north-west. It also borders Ille-et-Vilaine in the north for just 20 yards (19 m), France's shortest department boundary. Its prefecture is Angers; its subprefectures are Cholet, Saumur and Segré-en-Anjou Bleu. Maine-et-Loire had a population of 818,273 in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loire Valley</span> Area of France

The Loire Valley, spanning 280 kilometres (170 mi), is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about 800 square kilometres (310 sq mi). It is referred to as the Cradle of the French and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards, and artichoke, and asparagus fields, which line the banks of the river. Notable for its historic towns, architecture, and wines, the valley has been inhabited since the Middle Palaeolithic period. In 2000, UNESCO added the central part of the Loire River valley to its list of World Heritage Sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Château de Chenonceau</span> Castle spanning the River Cher in the Loire Valley, France

The Château de Chenonceau is a French château spanning the river Cher, near the small village of Chenonceaux, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire. It is one of the best-known châteaux of the Loire Valley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Château de Montsoreau</span> Castle in Loire Valley, France

The Château de Montsoreau is a Flamboyant Gothic castle in the Loire Valley, directly built in the Loire riverbed. It is located in the market town of Montsoreau, in the Maine-et-Loire département of France, close to Saumur, Chinon, Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, and Candes-Saint-Martin. The Château de Montsoreau is situated at the confluence of two rivers, the Loire and the Vienne, and the meeting point of three historical regions: Anjou, Poitou, and Touraine. It is the only château of the Loire Valley built directly in the Loire riverbed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourist attraction</span> Place of interest where tourists visit

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pays de la Loire</span> Administrative region of France

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur</span> Administrative region of France

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Châteaux of the Loire Valley</span> Historic grand residences in a part of France

The châteaux of the Loire Valley are part of the architectural heritage of the historic towns of Amboise, Angers, Blois, Chinon, Montsoreau, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours along the river Loire in France. They illustrate Renaissance ideals of design in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Ciotat</span> Commune in Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur, France

La Ciotat is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. It is the southeasternmost commune of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis. La Ciotat is located at about 25 km (15.5 mi) to the east of Marseille, at an equal distance from Toulon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montsoreau</span> Commune in Pays de la Loire, France

Montsoreau is a commune of the Loire Valley in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France on the Loire, 160 km (99 mi) from the Atlantic coast and 250 km (160 mi) from Paris. The village is listed among The Most Beautiful Villages of France and is part of the Loire Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Les Plus Beaux Villages de France</span> Association of the most beautiful villages in France

Les Plus Beaux Villages de France is an independent association created in 1982 for the promotion of the tourist appeal of small rural villages with a rich cultural heritage. As of 2024, it numbers 176 member villages. It is affiliated to the international association The Most Beautiful Villages in the World.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer</span> Commune in Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur, France

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Château de Chinon</span> Castle in France

Château de Chinon is a château located on the bank of the river Vienne in Chinon, France. It was founded by Theobald I, Count of Blois. In the 11th century the castle became the property of the counts of Anjou. In 1156 Henry II of England, a member of the House of Anjou, took the castle from his brother Geoffrey, Count of Nantes, after Geoffrey rebelled for a second time. Henry favoured the Château de Chinon as a residence. Most of the standing structure can be attributed to his reign; he died there in 1189.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in Paris</span>

Tourism in Paris is a major income source. Paris received 12.6 million visitors in 2020, measured by hotel stays, a drop of 73 percent from 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of foreign visitors declined by 80.7 percent. Museums re-opened in 2021, with limitations on the number of visitors at a time and a requirement that visitors wear masks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loire</span> Longest river in France

The Loire is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of 1,006 kilometres (625 mi), it drains 117,054 km2 (45,195 sq mi), more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montsoreau Flea Market</span>

The Montsoreau Flea Market is the largest flea market in the Loire Valley, taking place all year the second Sunday of the month. Montsoreau is a small city named after the mount Soreau on which is built the famous château de Montsoreau, the only château of the Loire Valley to have been built in the Loire riverbed. Montsoreau is listed among the most beautiful villages of France, and both the village and the château are part of the UNESCO listed World Heritage Site of the Loire valley. The Montsoreau Flea Market includes all year, a hundred professional merchants and is located in the vieux port district, on the banks of the Loire river.

References

  1. "2013 Travel & Tourism Economic Impact Report France" (PDF). World Travel & Tourism Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-02. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  2. "World Tourism Barometer" (PDF). World Tourism Organization. May 2024. p. 19. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  3. Visiteurs internationaux en France en 2018
  4. "Visiteurs internationaux en France en 2017" (PDF).
  5. "France". Travel-university.org. 2010-07-28. Archived from the original on 2006-05-07. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  6. "The Leading Travel Zone Site on the Net". travelzones.net. Archived from the original on 2011-04-26. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  7. Arfin, Ferne (11 January 2009). "France: Insider's guide to Paris". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 6 September 2009.
  8. "The French Riviera Tourist Board". Frenchriviera-tourism.com. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  9. Côte d'Azur Economic Development Agency. p. 31 CRDP-Nice.net Archived 2010-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Côte d'Azur Economic Development Agency, p. 66 Archived 2010-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
  11. John Eade, "Pilgrimage and tourism at Lourdes, France." Annals of Tourism Research 19.1 (1992): 18-32 online.
  12. "2009 Theme Index. The Global Attractions Attendance Report, 2009" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-06-02. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  13. McClanahan, Paige (2021-06-23). "'It's Like Coming Home to Family': Disneyland Paris Reopens". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  14. "Weekend Breaks: the Vendée's Puy du Fou < Travel & Tourism | Expatica France". Expatica.com. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  15. "Fréquentation des musées et des bâtiments historiques" (in French). Archived from the original on 2007-12-24.
  16. "Les chiffres clés du tourisme dans les Bouches-du-Rhône - Tourisme- Conseil général des Bouches-du-Rhône – Cg13 Marseille". Cg13.fr. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
  17. 1 2 "Official website of Moselle tourism office, 2011 key numbers. p 12" (PDF) (in French). Retrieved 31 January 2012.

Further reading