78 million foreign tourists

France is the world’s number one tourist destination, with 78 million foreign tourists in 2006

This figure is up nearly 3% on that of 2005. An increasing number of foreign tourists have been coming to France since 2000. International tourism revenue has also risen by 2.5%, reaching €35 billion in 2006.

Three quarters of tourists coming to France are European. The British come top, ahead of the Germans. There have also been significantly more visitors from Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Eastern Europe. The number of Chinese tourists has risen sharply to nearly 600,000.

Figures for 2006 show that, among France’s cultural attractions, the Louvre is the biggest crowd puller (7.6 million visitors), then the Eiffel Tower (6.4 million), Pompidou Centre (5.3 million) and Versailles (3.3 million). Outside Paris, the Puy du Fou theme park and [the abbey at] Mont Saint-Michel are the most popular.

Although the United States and Spain receive more revenue from tourism, France has been the world’s number one tourist destination for several years, which puts her ahead of Spain, where there were 58.5 million visitors in 2006.

Sources:
- www.insee.fr (in French)

French Tourism Ministry website:
www.tourisme.gouv.fr/fr/home.jsp
and
www.tourisme.gouv.fr/fr/z2/stat/tis/att00011646/TIS_04_2006_v2004.pdf (in French)

Last updated: 13.02.2007