Despite concerns about rising costs of living, heatwaves, and wildfires, the summer of 2022 appears to have been excellent for the French tourism business as domestic and international tourists flocked to the nation after the COVID-19 epidemic shook the industry for two years.

Preliminary data revealed that the summer of 2022 had been "extraordinary," with 35 million French citizens traveling, or seven out of ten as opposed to six the previous year, according to Tourism Minister Olivia Gregoire.

She also noted that summer credit card usage in French hotels and eateries increased 10% from 2019.

France depends heavily on tourism, which generates 8 percent of national gross domestic product and provides two million jobs.

Data for July and the first half of August showed revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key gauge of performance for the hotel industry, was up 22.2% when compared to the Summer 2019.

RevPAR in the Paris region and the Riviera were up sharply, driven by a return of wealthy foreign tourists, notably from the United States due to a strong dollar, and from Gulf countries.

In 2019 France was the most-visited country in the world, attracting nearly 90 million foreign tourists.

"We want to remain the number one destination in the world," Gregoire said.

When asked if France still targeted 100 million foreign tourists, Gregoire said:"It may not be impossible to reach that number, this is a target we can have,"

Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Angus MacSwan

Source:reuters.com