The year 2023 still seems to put France on the podium of world tourism figures. While Russian tourists have completely disappeared from French soil, without the Chinese and with few Japanese, the success of this year is based on the spectacular return of the British and especially the Americans, who seem to have saved these last three years to finally provide a holiday…
In addition to the French, the number of Belgian and German tourists has not dropped, which is why the summer season promises to be very good.
The tourism industry therefore has reason to rejoice, especially since it did not expect it. After the seemingly endless protests against the pension reform and, later, with the wave of incidents in the suburbs, tourism professionals thought the exercise would be more difficult. Cancellations in early July seemed to prove the fear right.
However, experts doubt that the end of the season, resolutely autumnal, can make it possible to reach the figure of 90 million foreign visitors recorded before the pandemic.
Spain and Italy are on the heels…
In Italy, due to the lack of German tourists at Lake Garda and the beaches of the Adriatic Riviera due to the economic crisis, the massive return of Americans has rewarded cities of art such as Florence and Rome and the sea of the Amalfi Coast. For Ivana Jelinic, director of Enit, the presence of Americans was fundamental, because those who come from afar stay and spend more.
But France’s real battle, still undeclared, is against Spain, which could well take away the world leadership in tourism this year.
