FRENCH TOURISM TARGETS BY 2020 THE ANNUAL OBJECTIVE OF 100 MILLION VISITORS

USPA NEWS - First Tourism Steering Committee of Tuesday was held last October 10, 2017. The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, with his side, State Secretary Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne , chaired the first Tourism Steering Board, in the presence of Mrs. Jacqueline Goutrault, Minister to the Minister State Minister of the Interior, Mrs Sophie Cluzel, Secretary of State to the Prime Minister for disabled persons, and Mr. Benjamin Griveaux, Secretary of State to the Minister of Economy and Finance , as well as representatives of local authorities and industry players. This Council is part of the mission to animate tourism policy entrusted to Jean-Yves Le Drian, by the Prime minister Edouard Philippe on 26 July, on the occasion of the 1st Inter-ministerial Council of Tourism.

The aim Steering Council to ensure the smooth deployment of the actions decided by Inter and give fresh impetus to the annual objectives of 100 million international tourist arrivals and tourist expenditure of € 50bn will be achieved in 2020. Jean-Yves Le Drian and Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said they personally would follow the work initiated today in connection with all tourism stakeholders to quickly make decisions that will unite the efforts of all at the service of the French economy and territorial development. A 2nd Steering Committee will be organized under the chairmanship of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs in April 2018.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Among the Council's priorities is the promotion of the destination "France" to international clients and opinion-makers, in particular through the new opportunities offered by digital. To this end, Jean-Yves Le Drian is mobilizing the entire diplomatic network and the Atout France operator: the increase in the number of visas issued and the additional revenues that result for the operator Atout France testifies to the impact of this mobilization.--------------------------------------------------------- During the Steering Committee, the exchanges also showed a broad agreement on the need for collective mobilization to increase the public and private funds allocated to the promotion of the destination "France", in which the objective of collectively promotion 1 euro per international tourist by 2022. In order to determine the best ways of structuring this collective effort, an information mission on the financing of tourism promotion was set up, composed of Christian Mantei, CEO of Atout France, Germain Lelarge, digital entrepreneur and Jacques Barre, vice-president of the Confédération des Actors du Tourisme. The mission will consult with all stakeholders in the sector to determine ways to increase the number and size of Atout France's partnerships and to reflect on renewed modalities of financing the promotion. The ambition of Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is to make the operator Atout France the place of dialogue and common action of all the actors of tourism, gathered around a common objective: to welcome 100 million tourists in 2020. A genuine showcase of national know-how - inscribed in the national heritage of UNESCO - French gastronomy is an incomparable asset to encourage tourists to visit France. Following the impetus given by the President of the Republic at the reception of the Grands Chefs organized at the Elysée Palace on 27 September, the main thrusts the government intends to put forward in the presence of Alain Ducasse gastronomy at the heart of the effort to enhance the destination France. As a matter of priority, the international promotion events (Goût de France - the mobilization of embassies around gastronomy) and France (Gastronomy Festival) will be better organized so that the two components are two versions of one the same operation to promote French gastronomy. It was also decided to make permanent the contracts of destination, which are an indispensable tool for structuring the players of the territories around world-renowned brands.

Jacqueline Gourault presented the actions taken by the Ministry of the Interior to meet the commitments on wait times at airports for identity checks. Additional Border Police personnel are deployed at the two Paris airports and new control units will be set up. The process of technical validation of the facial recognition device is well underway.------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- "TOURISM QUALITY" PROGRAM UNVEILED BY BENJAMIN GRIVEAUX, SECRETARY OF ECO&FINANCE-Benjamin GRIVEAUX announced the launch of a campaign to promote the "Qualité Tourisme" brand, which is a major tool for structuring the French tourism offer and guaranteeing the confidence of its customers. This action will involve the administration with major players, in particular the digital sector, in the tourism and transport sectors, to transform the "Qualité Tourisme" brand into a reference for all, including for commerce.---------------------------------------------------------- TOURISM AND HANDICAP UNDER THE LABEL AND PROGRAM " DESTINATION FRO ALL"----------------------- Sophie CLUZEL insisted on the importance of developing throughout the territory the brands Tourism and Handicap and Destination for All to expand the profile of foreign tourists who will be able to discover France. The Ministry of Action and Public Accounts has launched a working group to improve the purchasing experience of international clients, in particular with regard to tax refunds. The professionals concerned will be integrated into this work.------------------------------------------- Jean-Yves Le Drian, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne and Jacqueline Gourault also explained the state of deployment of the portal "France Visa", which will shortly constitute a general information point on visas and which will replace the various channels of " information provided by consulates and external providers. It will also include an "assistant visa" system, which will enable tourism to determine very quickly if it needs a visa and the supporting documents it must provide.------------------------- The Ministry of Transport has specified the schedule for the start of the CDG Express, which will be operational at the end of 2023 to be fully operational on the day of the Olympic Games. A progress report was also made on the measures envisaged by the Government to create new revenues for the valorization of certain sections of the uncontrolled Ile-de-France motorway area and thus resolutely improve the cleanliness of the motorway access roads to the capital since airports. PHASE 2 OF THE PLAN UNVEILED UNDER DATA TOURISM BY BENJAMIN GRIVEAUX------------------------------- In order for France to remain the world's leading destination for tourism, the rise of private French offer is a priority. Benjamin GRIVEAUX announced the launch of a phase 2 for the public data aggregator DATAtourisme, to widen the scope of the collected information and the possible uses for startups (in particular with an addition of the data of accommodation, restoration, and statistics on tourism). Similarly, he confirmed the State's support for the tourism tourism network "France Tourisme Lab" to facilitate the emergence of new tourist offers, with the objective of having about ten structures created by the end of 2018 . Finally, an information mission was set up jointly by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Territorial Cohesion and the Ministry of Culture to identify concrete and operational proposals that will facilitate the renovation of the private park of tourist accommodation, especially in coastal and mountain resorts. It will deliver its conclusions to the ministers on 15 December in order to be able to take decisions at the 2nd Inter-ministerial Council of Tourism, to be chaired by the Prime Minister on 19 January 2018.