This reflection group which brings together in particular companies like Accor, SNCF Connect, European Camping Group, or the Compagnie des Alpes, organizes a conference on Thursday with regions of France, around the theme “100 million tourists in France: reality or political totem? ».
For Mr. Marcel, this CAP of 100 million foreign visitors crossed in 2024 does not “mean much, since what is important is the tourist expenditure,” he recalls. With 71 billion euros in tourist revenue last year, France ranked fourth in this area, far behind the 126 billion euros in Spain, which nevertheless had fewer visitors.
“What we want is to go from an approach to volume to a value approach,” continues Mr. Marcel, who judges that at the time of surcourism, it was not necessarily relevant to want to bring more and more visitors, knowing that the average duration of stays is shorter in France than in other countries.
Passage country
“It is due to the fact that France is a country of passage”, with visitors who only spend a “night stage” in the country and who find themselves counted in statistics. For M. Marcel, France must invest more, renovate its hotal and accommodation fleet and better meet the expectations of visitors as well as the local population. “Nor should we lose sight of two thirds of the overall tourism expenditure, is French tourists,” he said, which must not “focus only on international customers”.
