Felicity Long
Some years ago, Jean-Philippe Perol, the former director USA for Atout France, the French tourism development agency, told me that the average American traveler to France was a middle-aged, well-traveled woman who had been to France before and was sophisticated about culture, cuisine and wine.
With the recent appointment of Caroline Leboucher as Atout France's director general, I wondered if that was still true or whether the steady influx of younger travelers had changed the equation.
"While women remain the largest segment of travelers to France, we have ... seen an increase from generations X and Z," Leboucher said. The average age of 57% of international visitors has remained steady (about 45 years old), but younger travelers make up a healthy 37% of the market, she said, adding that, across age ranges, "Americans who come to France are extremely loyal, and the U.S. is increasingly a repeat-traveler market for us."
I also asked Leboucher what the trending destinations are beyond Paris.
Caroline Leboucher Photo Credit: Gilles Cramps
"While Provence has been a favored destination for the savvy American traveler to France as early as the 1980s, we have noted that Marseille has recently become a popular destination for the discerning traveler ... which started when Marseille was named European Capital of Culture in 2013."
A key new hotspot in Marseille is the Museum of European & Mediterranean Civilizations, or Mucem, a beautiful, interactive venue in the Old Port that serves as a centerpiece to the city's rebirth as a cultural destination.
Leboucher also singled out Bordeaux, which spiked in popularity with the opening of the Cite du Vin wine museum in 2016 and the arrival of the high-speed train in 2017. This month, Bordeaux celebrated the grand opening of La Meca, a multicultural center, and next year will see the debut of the Bassins de Lumieres, a digital exhibition space housed in a former World War II submarine base.
She also cited Lyons, whose already famous cuisine is shifting into high gear this year with the grand opening of the Cite de la Gastronomie. "Of the 3 million-plus annual foreign visitors to Lyons, 15% are American, making U.S. visitors the city's No. 1 international clientele," she said.
Leboucher touted Atout France's new Explore France branding, designed to entice international travelers to fan out and explore the various French destinations beyond Paris.
As to France's long-standing reputation as a center of culture, cuisine, art and wine, Leboucher said these draws are still important, along with architectural heritage and art de vivre, "which are actively sought and expected by American travelers to our destination," she said, adding that shopping is also popular with visitors.
Leboucher stressed France's standing as an active vacation destination as another key attraction.
"In a country that invented the Tour de France and therefore has a strong cycling culture, tour operators can add experiences which are uniquely French," Leboucher said, citing Backroads, DuVine Cycling & Adventure Co. and Austin Adventures as companies that have been been offering cycling adventures for years.
France has been slower than some European destinations to actively court the family market, but that is changing, she said, noting that family travel is a growing market that Atout France is tracking closely.
"Based on our latest tour operator survey on France, we estimate that the multigenerational families represent about 37% of their clientele," she said, "and the family market, including those traveling with young children, represents about 20%.
"We are also renewing our efforts to target the under-35 crowd, not only as clients for today but also because they are the clients of tomorrow," she said, adding, "Finally, we are hard at work on the content strategy we initiated in 2017 to make our website, http://us.france.fr/en, a media site by revisiting the staples of our destination through the lens of contemporary creation, technological innovation and sustainability."