“Between 82.5 and 83 million foreign tourists visited France in 2016,” Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on February 10. This is down from the record of 85 million recorded in 2015, but France remains the world’s top tourist destination.
Speaking in Biarritz, he added that 2016 was an exceptional year, due to terror attacks, bad weather, and strikes. France attracts more international tourists than either the US or Spain, other top destinations.
Japanese tourists are returning in large numbers following a sharp decline after the attack in Nice in July that took the lives of 86 people. Airline bookings from Japan to Paris are up 60 percent this quarter from the third quarter of 2016.
However, the country must do more to remain attractive, the minister affirmed. Beyond emergency measures, such as better video surveillance to improve security, there is a need to improve the welcome offered to visitors, he said. The final number of tourists who visited France in 2016 will be unveiled in March.