France holds off Spain as world's tourist favourite

Olympic host France retained its spot as the world's top tourist destination in 2024 with 100 million visitors, holding off stiff competition from countries including Spain, the tourism ministry said on Tuesday.

As world tourism returned to pre-pandemic levels with 1.4 billion people taking a trip abroad, according to the UN, both France and Spain announced record visitor numbers.

"While France is still the world leader in this sector, we are facing fierce competition, particularly from Spain," said French Tourism Minister Nathalie Delattre in an interview on Tuesday with the daily Le Figaro.

Spain said last week that a record 94 million foreign tourists flocked to the Iberian nation in 2024, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.

France, which hosted the Olympic Games in July - September 2024, welcomed two more million visitors in 2024, an increase of two percent compared with 2023.

But although France had more visitors, they spent less than those in Spain -- 71 billion euros ($74 billion) compared with 126 billion euros in Spain.

"We need to work to increase the average each visitor spends and get our visitors to stay longer," Delattre said.

France's takings from international tourists rose by a total of 12 percent year-on-year, driven largely by Belgian, English, German, Swiss and US citizens, the tourism ministry said in a statement.

Overnight stays by US tourists rose by five percent, the ministry added, calling the Americans "a key clientele" with strong purchasing power.

Despite the return of customers from Asia, the number of Chinese visitors to France remained 60 percent lower than before the pandemic.

Thirty percent fewer Japanese visited the country than in 2019.

Good snowfall in late 2024 meanwhile drove a rebound for the end-of-year holidays as snow sports lovers flocked to the French ski slopes.

"The outlook for the first quarter of 2025 is very good, with visitor numbers on the rise," the ministry statement added.