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COVID-19

To boost tourism, France encourages its citizens to travel within the country

Rebecca Rosman Aug 31, 2020
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The beach at the western port city of Saint-Malo, which saw an increase in French travelers in July compared to a year earlier. Rebecca Rosman
COVID-19

To boost tourism, France encourages its citizens to travel within the country

Rebecca Rosman Aug 31, 2020
Heard on:
The beach at the western port city of Saint-Malo, which saw an increase in French travelers in July compared to a year earlier. Rebecca Rosman
HTML EMBED:
COPY

An appeal from France’s tourism industry for citizens to turn their summer holidays into a visit within the country appears to have paid off. According to one survey, 86% of French vacationers opted to explore France this summer, compared to 75% in 2019.

Using the hashtag #CetÉtéJeVisiteLaFrance (#ThisSummerIVisitFrance), the country’s tourism board has invited vacationers to share their localized summer holidays on social media. But the boost in local tourism still won’t be enough to save the entire industry, which makes up 8% of France’s GDP. Analysts are still expecting a loss of up to 40 billion euros, equivalent to about $47 billion, because international tourism is down.

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