Atout France organises 5th edition of its offsite B2B showcase, Explore France in Kochi

Atout France-France Tourism Development Agency organised the 5th edition of its flagship B2B event, Explore France in Kochi last week. The event provided a perfect platform in building successful synergies between French tourism partners and the travel trade fraternity pan India. Over 2 days of interactive exchanges, an approximate of 1500 scheduled meetings took place between buyers and 33 exhibitors reinforcing India’s potential as a source market for destination France.

The French delegation comprised partners who have maintained a steady presence on the market and new entrants interested to make a foray into the market. This year also marks 20 years of Atout France’s presence in India.

On October 11, “An Evening Under the Stars” was organised in association with La Vallée Village – member of the Bicester collection in the presence of Lise Talbot Barré, Consul General of France in Pondicherry and Chennai, Didier Talpain, Consul General of France in Kolkata and Jean-Marc Séré-Charlet, Consul General of France in Mumbai.

On the 12th, an interactive session on visas was organised by the Consulate General of France in Pondicherry and Chennai for all participants. The session provided many useful insights on visa submissions and other relevant information.

Sheetal Munshaw – Director Atout France India, shared her thoughts, “We’ve had a very satisfying turnout for this edition of our showcase. Both our partners and agents displayed strong levels of motivation and a keen interest in the showcase of destination France to the discerning Indian traveller. India is within the top 15 source markets for France and happy to announce that arrival figures for the first half of the year (mid-June) are at an approximate of 4, 99,000. With the Rugby World Cup underway and the Olympic and Paralympic Games slated to take place in Paris next year, I believe that the interactions between our partners and agents are instrumental to establishing France’s strategic positioning as a preferred tourist destination for this year and the next”.