TBM Staff - Mumbai 
Caroline Leboucher, CEO of Atout France, expressed optimism about the resurgence of outbound travel from India, anticipating a return to pre-COVID levels by the end of the year or early 2025.
Speaking exclusively to TravelBiz Monitor in Toulouse, Leboucher highlighted the excitement surrounding France’s hosting of the Olympics Games and Summer Paralympics, viewing these events as catalysts for tourism.
“France received 549,770 arrivals from India in 2023 vs. 700,000 in 2019, which is a deficit of around 22% of pre-Covid arrival numbers. Alongside India, Japan and China are other two key Asian markets that have still have a larger arrival deficit of around 40% and 60%, respectively, when compared to their pre-Covid arrivals. With France hosting world-class sporting events and the entire excitement around these huge tournaments, we are confident of a large number of tourists coming to witness historic moments. We are already seeing recovery from India, and our assessment is to reach the pre-Covid number of arrivals by year end or early 2025,” she said.
To support the recovery efforts and enhance engagement with trade partners in India, Atout France has implemented various initiatives. These include conducting training sessions and workshops aimed at equipping frontline staff with comprehensive destination knowledge and tools for creating tailored itineraries. Additionally, the organisation is actively promoting the ‘France Connaisseur’ online training programme in the Indian market.
By leveraging such outreach programmes and the heightened interest generated by major sporting events, Atout France aims to facilitate the resurgence of tourism from India, with the goal of returning to pre-pandemic arrival numbers by the end of 2024 or early 2025.
