France records 6% downturn in visitor arrivals

Monday, 12 May, 2010 0

SYDNEY – Visitors to France fell by 6% in 2009 according to Herve Novelli, the French junior minister in charge of tourism.

The most visited country in the world, its numbers were down from 79 million in 2008 to 74 million in 2009.
 
However, the number of Australians visiting France remained stable according to Patrick Benhamou, general manager for Atout France in Australia. 
 
Even though France officially came out of recession in the second quarter of 2009, the high Euro against the dollar resulted in US visitors falling by 8% and the
ongoing recession in the UK resulted in 17% fewer Britons travelling to France.
 
Despite the poor comparable figures, the minister said that in the last two quarters of
2009 there had been a rise in visitors from the US, who are slowly coming back with
the fall of the Euro against the dollar.
 
Commenting on the report, Benhamou said, ‘‘Last year, arrivals to France coming from Australia remained stable compared to 2008. Even though 2009 has been challenging for tourism in France, we are confident that Australians tourists will visit France this year due to a very strong dollar against the Euro."
 
 


 

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Philip Thorniley



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