The pattern of increasing tourist flows represents a key challenge in terms of the sustainability of tourism and its public acceptance. A high proportion of international tourist travel is concentrated in three French regions - the greater Paris area, the French Riviera, and the ski resorts of the Alps. In addition, the majority of French residents go on holiday to coastal regions, while the country’s mountain regions are seeking new areas of growth to mitigate the adverse impacts of global warming on winter pursuits. France’s tourism offer must therefore be structured more effectively, with target markets made more aware of its diversity.
During the 2017 Inter-ministerial Tourism Council meeting (CIT), the roadmap for tourism development was set and the Government agreed to focus action on six key areas:
Welcome and security - improvements in service standards have been achieved in particular through reduced visa waiting times and border crossing times at airports, while quality-related efforts are focused on modernising and promoting the Government’s Tourism Quality label (Qualité TourismeTM).
Dispersal - in order to attract and disperse international tourists across France, including its overseas territories. Key elements include the destination contracts policy, which brings together all parties involved in delivering a local tourist offer.
State support for investment - a major pillar of the Government’s strategy for improving the quality of the tourist offer and promoting better connectivity. This is achieved through deployment of the France Tourism Development Fund (France développement tourisme).
Training and employment - crucial in terms of service quality and playing a major role in combating unemployment given the number of jobs created by the industry.
Supporting digitalisation and information – specifically to increase the global competitiveness of France’s tourism industry. Key elements include development of the DATAtourisme portal, France NUMerique (box 2.8), Tourisme Lab incubator network and economic intelligence observatory, Veille Info Tourisme.
Broader access to holidays - in particular for people living with a disability, represents a social objective and a way to enhance the competitiveness of destinations;
The Inter-Ministerial Tourism Council meetings have subsequently be organised around these priority areas. At its January 2018 meeting, which covered topics relating to promotion and investment, the Council approved an increase in funding for the tourism industry from the government-backed guarantor agency, Caisse des dépôts, and public investment bank, Bpifrance, and agreed permanent arrangements for transferring a portion of visa revenues to Atout France to fund advertising targeted at international markets. The Council acknowledged at its meeting in July 2018 that progress had been made in the digital sector, and examined proposals for improving synergies between sport and tourism. The meeting held in May 2019 focused on employment and training and related governance issues. Topics discussed included schemes to help local authorities, including, organisational support for the development of tourism-related economic activities at heritage sites, a VAT refund scheme, and a new project aimed at simplifying the regulatory framework for tourism. A meeting scheduled for late 2019 will focus, in particular, on broadening access to holidays and sustainable tourism.
To bring forward co-ordinated action at the local level, destination contracts were formed in 2014 and are designed to encourage public-private partnerships around specific themes, with the aim of creating and promoting a clear and attractive offer for both national and international audiences. Each contract constitutes a commitment on the part of all interests to a shared tourism strategy, by means of actions which focus on the attractiveness of the offer and improved service quality. Destination contracts are a way of offsetting the disadvantages that arise from the very large number of public and private actors in the tourism industry and of bringing together local and national tourism strategies. While the investment of state funding is modest, this concept exercises considerable leverage. Twenty-three destination contracts were signed between 2015 and 2018, while a further eight were renewed in 2018.
France has responded to the development of digital platforms, which is particularly relevant to tourist accommodation. Accommodation in private homes has become a major component of the national offer, especially in cities, but does not always further the objectives of housing policy. In an effort to avoid obstructing the development of a dynamic new economy in furnished tourist rentals, while preserving housing market equilibrium, France has opted to take a regulatory approach, in particular through the adoption of the 2018 Law on Changes in Housing, Land Management and Digital Technology, or ELAN Law. Under this Law, in areas severely affected by rising housing prices, municipalities will be able to impose restrictions on second-home rentals and limit the length of time for which a primary residence can be rented to 120 days per year (this 120-day limit is also imposed on platforms).
