Les valeurs de l'olympisme dans tous les domaines mises à l'honneur par le Sommet Européen annuel à Paris au Palais Brongniart cette année

Editorial by Pascal Cagni

France has been the world's top tourist destination for over 30 years!

 

 

" On the road to 100 million visitors!

Do you realize that each region of France has more heritage assets than 90% of any other country in the world?

 

Leveraging on the #choosefrance Summit, the Destination France Summit took place on Thursday, January 11, 2024, at the Château de Chantilly. Emmanuel Macron concluded a great summit opened by Bruno Le Maire and Olivia Gregoire.

 

Congratulations to Philippe Gassmann, Caroline Leboucher and Atout France and the Business France teams which made this event possible.

 

Over 40 international CEOs attended the summit including senior executives from the hospitality sector such as Katara Group, Marriott, Mandarin Oriental, IHG, etc.

 

I had the pleasure of meeting with Bertrand GODINOT, Easyjet, Marco Sansavini, Vueling, Zaya S. Younan, Younan Properties, Grégory RABUEL, Louvre Hotels Group. I also participated to an interactive workshop: "France Economic Attractiveness: Thriving Opportunities and a Favorable Business Climate" alongside with Caroline Le Boucher, Olivier Sichel, Banque des Territoires, Julia Simpson, WTTC, Ariane Gorin, Expedia and Desiree Bollier, Value Retail.

 

The Summit highlighted our assets in the tourism sector:

- Tremendous accommodation offer resulting in Bn 1,5 overnights in 2023, among which 500 M from international visitors

- Diverse geography allowing a large offer range, from ski to overseas destinations in 3 oceans

- Unique cultural and architectural heritage bringing 8 M visitors to the Louvre, 7 M to Versailles and 3 M to Mont Saint-Michel

- Booming business on the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions (MICE) segment, which amounts for 1/3 of the Bn 63€ revenues of the tourism sector, with numerous world-class business events such as the Paris Air Show, with 300 000 visitors in 2023

- A test market with renowned companies allowing innovative solutions, particularly in the luxury sector as illustrated by the Collectionist and his Founder Marc Niort

- A strategy to become the first sustainable tourism destination as offered by Nutchel created by co-founder Clémence Rousseau-Dumarcet

 

Tourism is a critical economic driver:

-  7.5% of the French GDP, 1/15 workers in France is related to the Tourism !

- Up to €10.7 Bn in economic impact for the Paris Olympics

-  95 international investment projects in the Île-de-France region since 2017, with 58% directly related to the Olympics

 

We now must release the untapped potential of our world-famous brands, Biarritz, Alsace, Bretagne, Bourgogne, Val de Loire and so many others. As Xavier Bertrand demonstrates us, the French regions have a key role to play in promoting tourism.

 

2024 will be an exceptional year for tourism with the Olympics and Paralympics, expecting 16 M visitors, the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the 19th Francophonie Summit, and the 150th anniversary of Impressionism. "