The two-day event saw over 28,144 scheduled B2B meetings between the foreign tour operators and the French exhibitors
The 18th edition of Rendezvous en France, the flagship B2B tourism event that seeks to promote France as a global destination concluded in Lyon, registering several highs.
The event, organised by Atout France, the tourism promotion organisation of France, was attended by as many 704 exhibitors from France and 817 tour operators representing 62 countries from around the world. According to Atout France, the two-day event saw over 28,144 scheduled B2B meetings between the foreign tour operators and the French exhibitors. The tourism promotion agency adds that as part of its endeavour to showcase the best of France, a total of 53 fam trips were organised for the visiting tour operators and media.
Indian delegation at Rendevous en France
Addressing the media, Rose-Marie Abel, Acting CEO of Atout France said that Rendezvous en France 2025 was held in the back drop of a stellar performance by the tourism industry in France, which received over 100 million international visitors who spent more than EUR 71 billion, both record figures.
Tourism to France in 2024 was highlighted by several key events, notably the Paris 2024 Olympic Games which received over 3.1 million tourists, the highest-ever turnout of tourists for any Olympic Games.
Rose-Marie Abel
Abel also outlined the key activities planned in France in 2025 to keep the momentum going. These include major sporting events like cycling event, Tour de France, as well as major art exhibitions like the centennial celebrations of noted French artist Paul Cezanne and other high profile events to attract visitors from all over the world, but keeping the focus on high-quality of tourism.
‘‘While we want our tourism industry to keep growing at a healthy rate, we want to promote quality over quantity and we want to keep sustainability at the heart of our tourism industry,’’ Abel told India Outbound on the sidelines of Rendevous en France.
With a healthy growth of over 15 pc in terms of Indian visitors in France in 2024, India was present in a big strength at the event as Atout France India hosted 32 travel agents from across India for participating in the event.
Sheetal Munshaw
Sheetal Munshaw, Director, Atout France India says that in 2024, France had reached very close to crossing the pre-pandemic tourist arrivals and that she was certain of that barrier being broken in 2025.
‘‘Last year, we had about 650,000 Indian tourist arrivals, which was about 15 pc growth over 2023 and very close to our grand cru year of 2019 when we had about 700,000 Indian visitors. So this year, we expect to reach the pre-pandemic high,’’ Munshaw told India Outbound.
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