France remains the world’s number one tourist destination

According to the ministry’s statement, France remains “the most visited country in the world”, but the gap is narrowing year by year compared to Spain, which is expected to welcome 97 million foreign visitors and 135 billion euros in 2025 tourism revenue.

However, Atout France, the agency that promotes French tourism abroad, disputes the Spanish calculations and believes that revenues from foreign visitors in the neighboring country amount to around 105 billion euros.

In France, tourism revenue increased by 9 percent in one year, reaching a “record level” of 77.5 billion euros. The ministry welcomed the figure, adding that the gap in this area is “stabilizing” compared to Spain.

Taking together French and foreign tourists, tourism consumption rose to 222 billion euros last year, with Germans leading the way (+9 percent), followed by Italians, Spaniards, Belgians and the Dutch (+5 percent).

Although the French remained their home country as their number one tourist destination, the number of nights spent by French tourists fell by 5 percent, while foreign trips increased by 4 percent. The French are mainly visiting countries on the Mediterranean coast.

According to the ministry, the outlook for 2026 is “encouraging”, with airline bookings increasing significantly in the first quarter compared to 2025, especially to Mexico (+19 percent), China (+17 percent) and Canada (+7 percent).

More and more Spaniards from Europe are choosing France as a travel destination at the beginning of the year, with an 8 percent increase in bookings compared to the same period last year.

In ski resorts, The 2025-2026 season promises “good results” according to the government, with occupancy rates showing a slight increase based on bookings.