France solidified its position as the world’s most popular tourist destination in 2024, attracting 100 million visitors, the French Tourism Ministry announced on January 21.
The Olympic host nation held off strong competition from Spain, which also reported record-breaking numbers.
France retains top spot with 100 million tourists in 2024
Both France and Spain benefitted significantly from global tourism returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2024, achieving their highest visitor counts to date. Nearly 1.4 billion people traveled abroad last year, according to the UN.
“While France is still the world leader in this sector, we are facing fierce competition, particularly from Spain,” French Tourism Minister Nathalie Delattre said in an interview with Le Figaro. Spain ranks as the second most popular destination globally, after France, on the UN World Tourism Barometer.
Minister Delattre emphasized the need to boost visitor spending and encourage longer stays to close the revenue gap. “We need to work to increase the average each visitor spends and get our visitors to stay longer,” Delattre said.
Key visitor trends in France
- France’s international tourism revenue increased by 12% year-on-year, fueled by visitors from Belgium, England, Germany, Switzerland, and the United States.
- Overnight stays by American tourists rose by 5%, highlighting their importance as a “key clientele” with strong purchasing power.
- Visitors from Asia have not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels.
- Chinese tourist numbers were 60% lower compared to 2019 while Japanese tourist arrivals were down by 30% from 2019.
Snowfall boosts late 2024 tourism
Strong snowfall in late 2024 boosted winter tourism, drawing snow sports enthusiasts to French ski resorts during the holiday season. The tourism ministry also noted a positive outlook for the first quarter of 2025, with rising visitor numbers expected to continue.
France’s continued dominance as a top tourist destination reflects its resilience and appeal, though challenges remain in maximizing revenue and adapting to changing visitor demographics.
Record-breaking 94 million tourists visited Spain in 2024
A record 94 million international travelers visited Spain in 2024 in the best year for tourism in the country. This indicates a 10% increase from the previous year. Despite France surpassing this figure by two million, Spain outperformed its neighbor in revenue, earning €126 billion ($134 billion) from international visitors, compared to France’s €71 billion ($74 billion).
Spanish Tourism Minister Jordi Hereu said that he income from foreign visitors reached 126 billion euros ($129.8 billion) in 2024, up 16% from the 108.7 billion euros ($117 billion) spent in 2023. Tourism accounts for 12.3% of the country’s gross domestic product
Spain has performed remarkably in the tourism sector, with Valencia receiving Condé Nast’s Reader’s Choice Award for the second year in a row as the best city destination in Europe for 2024.
More than 1.4 billion people traveled internationally in 2024
Global tourism rebounded in 2024, with 1.4 billion international arrivals marking a 99% recovery to pre-pandemic levels, according to the UN World Tourism Barometer. This represented an 11% year-on-year increase, fueled by strong post-pandemic demand, robust performance from major source markets, and the continued recovery of destinations in Asia and the Pacific.
“In 2024, global tourism completed its recovery from the pandemic and, in many places, tourist arrivals and specially earnings are already higher than in 2019,” UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said. “Growth is expected to continue throughout 2025, driven by strong demand contributing to the socio-economic development of both mature and emerging destinations. This recalls our immense responsibility as a sector to accelerate transformation, placing people and planet at the center of the development of tourism.”
Most destinations surpassed pre-pandemic tourist numbers, with visitor spending also showing significant growth.
- Middle East: 95 million arrivals in 2024, up 32% from 2019 and 1% from 2023.
- Africa: 74 million arrivals, 7% above 2019 and 12% above 2023.
- Europe: 747 million arrivals, 1% above 2019 and 5% above 2023; strong intraregional demand except in Central/Eastern Europe.
- Americas: 213million arrivals, 97% of 2019 levels (-3%) and 7% growth over 2023; Caribbean and Central America surpassed 2019.
- Asia-Pacific: 316 million arrivals, 87% of 2019 levels, up from 66% in 2023, with 33% annual growth.
Among the world’s top five tourism earners, the United Kingdom (+40%), Spain (+36%), France (+27%) and Italy (+23%) saw robust growth in the first nine to eleven months of 2024, compared to 2019.