Despite the November Paris attack in 2015, France witnessed a 15 per cent growth at 365,000 in Indian arrivals. India is now rapidly emerging as one of the most important source markets for France. “The Indian market is gaining prominence as a source market for France. We have witnessed an average 15 per cent growth YoY for the last two years. Tourism did witness a slump post November 2015 to some extent in Paris but other regions were significantly less impacted. India as a market proved to be a resilient one with stable influx of tourists into France. Incidentally one of the largest if not the largest Indian incentive movement of 2200 pax maintained their stay in Paris in early December 2015 post the tragic events. The Indian travel fraternity and media have been extremely supportive of France which we are sincerely grateful for,” Sheetal Munshaw, Director, Atout France said.
Besides tourist arrivals, France has also witnessed an upward growth in terms of the average length and spends from the India market. “The average length of stay is definitely on the upswing across segments. Group tours now showcase France among the frontrunners in terms of night share including between two and five nights of France in a series itinerary. As for FIT travel the average length of stay is between four nights and 15 nights. Incentives are largely in the range of four nights,” she revealed.
Talking about Indian traveller’s profile, she said that Indian market has matured now and travellers are now demanding for experiential travel than mere sight-seeing. “Experiential travel seems to clearly be the most prominent trend broadly speaking. The trends we’ve been witnessing are varied and include city breaks pure Paris experiences for four to seven nights. Wine land escapes in French wine regions, winter holidays to dabble in snow and experiment on ski slopes through basic ski “experiences”, huskies, snow sledging et al or for the sheer pleasure of soaking in the festive white Christmas.”
France is now promoting newer attractions to attract repeat clientele. “In keeping with the constantly changing market trends, we endeavour to showcase newer facets of France to the Indian globetrotter. Unexplored areas to the Indian traveller such as Picardy only an hour away from Paris historic landmarks such as the Chateau de Chantilly, the spa retreat of La Baule, the Riviera of the North Deauville and the undisputed and only destination for the French bubbles Champagne amongst others,” Munshaw added.
Speaking about the travel trade engagement activities in 2016, Munshaw said, “The first quarter of 2016 has hosted over 30 travel professionals in France through our dedicated buyer seller platforms Grand Ski (winter tourism summit) and Rendez Vous en France (our largest travel convention) showcasing the various tourism offerings in France. We have also conducted a slew of B2B sales visits, thematic networking events with our partners such as Relais et Chateaux, Air France, St Tropez and will conduct training sessions later this year. Three more B2B thematic buyer seller meets will be held this year. A first edition focussed on Religious Tourism to be held in Lourdes on October 2-3, 2016. A wine tourism showcase will be held in Reims, Champagne on October 11-12. Also a MICE platform will be held in Paris from November 8-10. We will also conduct our three city roadshow in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkatta this September.” In 2016, France again plans to maintain its growth rate of about 15 per cent.
