Tourism bounces back as France rakes in €58bn from foreign visitors
New figures show France enjoyed a remarkable recovery after Covid, largely due to the return of European and American visitors
The record figures can be partly explained by the return of American tourists, but the highest spends came from Belgium, Germany, and the UK
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Foreign tourists brought in €58billion to France in 2022, new figures show, in a significant recovery after the devastating effects of the Covid pandemic.
It included €6.2billion from UK visitors, €7.3billion from Belgium and €6.5billion from Germany.
The figures come from Atout France, the agency with official responsibility for promoting French tourism abroad.
“By the end of December 2022, international tourism income in France had risen by €1.2billion compared to the level at the same time in [pre-pandemic] 2019,” read its report.
“This can be explained by the return of European and American clientele, but also by inflation, which by default increases the returns.”
However, in contrast, visitors from Asia – especially China and Japan – still remain at “very low levels”, it said.
On an international tourism level, however, France was still not as popular as Spain, which “rediscovered its place as European leader in 2022”, said Atout France.
The Iberian nation had already brought in €64.8billion by the end of November 2022, a full €6.8billion more than France’s total for the entire year.
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