This statistic presents the ranking of the most visited French cities (excluding Paris) by French tourists in 2016, according to the number of nights spent in hotels. That year, around 3.5 million overnight stays were spent by French tourists in the city of Marseille, in pole position in this ranking. Lyon was not far behind with more than 3.4 million hotel nights spent there.

In a survey conducted by BVA in 2015, most of French people chose New York City as the foreign city they would like to visit on holiday. The Big Apple remains popular in France, despite being one of the most expensive holiday destinations in the world in 2018. New York City’s famous architecture, as well as the Statue of Liberty or Central Park, keep attracting thousands of French who want to discover the city that never sleeps.

The French dream of distant cities

It appears that when it comes to popular foreign cities, French tourists seem to have a clear preference for cities which are far from home. In this ranking, New York was followed by Sydney and Montreal. This trend follows another a ranking from 2015 about the most attractive countries for holiday. According to the French, the United States was ranked first, before Canada and Australia. However, the French are still able to dream of their European neighbors. Florence, Barcelona and Rome were among the most popular cities according to French tourists. Mediterranean countries like Spain, Italy or Portugal were also among the destinations French people considered going to for summer holidays. Proximity, organization and price explain why, even if the French dream of holidays on the other side of the world, they tend to spend their holidays in Europe or even in their own country.

Reasons for travelling in France when you are French

Some regions in France, because of their pleasant living environment or their closeness to the sea, are among the most popular for French tourists. Corsica, Brittany and Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur are three very famous tourist destinations in the country. It also seems that French tourists like to spend their holidays with family of friends, which could explain why most French people plan holiday trips in their own country.

In 2015, when asking the French in which of the regions of France they would like to spend their summer holidays, ** percent answered Corsica. This island, located in the Mediterranean Sea, is one of the ** regions of the country and benefits from a Mediterranean climate alongside with beautiful landscapes. It is one of the most popular holiday destinations among French tourists, but the island also welcomes a large number of visitors from other European countries such as Germany or Italy.

Summer vacation means sea destination

Corsica is a region that seems particularly attractive for summer holidays. In another survey conducted in 2015 about the preferred city destinations for summer vacation in France, Ajaccio and Bastia, the two most populous Corsican cities, were on top of the ranking. It seems that when it comes to summer holidays, the French have a strong preference for the sea over the mountains or the countryside. Beside Corsica, other coastal regions like Brittany or Provence-Alpes- Côte d’Azur were among the favorite of French tourists.

Summer in France

French workers have a minimum of ** paid vacations days, while French children enjoy a summer break of nine weeks. During summertime, French cities are unusually calm, with French citizens leaving the town for the countryside or the sea. Every year, a large majority of French people plan to go on vacation and most of them choose to spend their summer holidays in their own country. In 2013, more than ** percent of holiday trips in France were domestic.

This statistic shows French residents' favorite cities for domestic holidays in the summer 2015. It appears that Ajaccio sparked the most interest among French travelers, with more than ** percent of the respondents quoting it.

In 2023, London was the leading European city tourism destination based on the number of bed nights. That year, bed nights in the United Kingdom's capital exceeded ** million, denoting a sharp annual increase but not fully recovering yet from the impact of COVID-19. Meanwhile, Paris and Istanbul followed in the ranking in 2023, with roughly ** million and nearly ** million bed nights. What are the most visited countries in Europe? While the French capital came in second among leading European cities based on bed nights, France topped the ranking of the European countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals in 2023, ahead of Spain, Italy, and Turkey. Meanwhile, when looking at European countries with the highest tourism receipts that year, Spain recorded the highest figure, with over ** billion U.S. dollars, followed by the United Kingdom. How many international tourists visit Europe every year? In 2023, the number of international tourist arrivals in Europe grew significantly over the previous year, totaling over *** million. This figure, however, remained below pre-pandemic levels. Overall, either before and after the impact of COVID-19, Europe was the region with the highest number of international tourist arrivals worldwide.

As of February 2025, Île-de-France, the region that includes Paris, recorded the highest number of hotel rooms in France. As of that month, hotels in that region offered a total of nearly 166,000 rooms. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur followed in the ranking, with over 85,000 and 74,000 hotel rooms, respectively.How many hotels are there in Paris? In 2024, the number of hotels in Paris exceeded 1,600. While three-star hotels accounted for the highest number of establishments that year, four-star hotels recorded the highest number of hotel rooms in Paris, with over 33,000 rooms. How many tourists visit Paris and Île-de-France? The City of Lights, as the French capital is nicknamed, is one of the most visited European destinations by international tourists and is also very popular among domestic travelers. In 2023, the total number of tourist arrivals to Paris and Île-de-France, including inbound and domestic visitors, reached almost 48 million, increasing over the previous year but remaining slightly below pre-pandemic levels.

As one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world, a city known for it's romantic landscape and notorious history, Paris was the city with the most visitors (1.7 million) recorded staying at Airbnb sites in France in the year 2016. The second destination for which Airbnb recorded it's most arrivals was Nice, with around 270 thousand visitors in 2016, followed by Lyon and Marseille.

This survey establishes a ranking of the ** French cities where French tourists preferred to go on holiday in 2016. At the top of the charts, we find the Corsican town of Ajaccio, that about ** percent of French people would like to visit.

In 2023, the total number of tourist overnight stays in Florence, including international and domestic travelers, increased sharply over the previous year, but remained below pre-pandemic levels. Overall, travel accommodation establishments in Florence reported around 9.8 million overnight stays by inbound visitors and roughly 2.9 million overnight stays by domestic tourists in 2023. Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance Florence is one of the best-known cities in Italy and a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. Located in the region of Tuscany, it is the eighth-largest city in Italy in terms of population size. Since the Middle Ages, the city has been an important center of art, culture, trade, and politics, but its true heyday started in the 14th century, with the beginning of the Renaissance. It was in Florence that this innovative philosophical and art movement was born, and the city was home to some of the greatest poets and artists of the period, like Francesco Petrarca, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci. Impact of COVID-19 on Italian tourism Tourism is one of the most significant economic sectors in Italy, contributing to over 200 billion euros in 2019. Due to the impact of the health crisis, however, the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Italy in 2022 was still three percent lower than pre-pandemic levels. Similarly, while the number of international tourist arrivals in Italy rebounded in 2022, it did not catch up yet with the figures from 2019. Overall, the highest volume of tourist arrivals came from Germany, France, and Austria in 2022.

Germany ranked as Crete’s biggest travel market in 2024, with the Greek island recording almost 1.6 million visits from German travelers. That year, the United Kingdom and France followed in the ranking, with 871,000 and 630,000 visits, respectively. What are the most visited travel destinations in Greece? In 2024, Crete, the largest Greek island, was the fourth most popular destination for international travelers in Greece. That year, Attica, the region that includes the city of Athens, ranked as the most visited Greek region, with almost nine million visits by inbound travelers. Travel and tourism in the Greek islands The Greek islands are an important driver of tourism for the Mediterranean country. In 2024, destinations such as Rhodes and Kos attracted roughly three million and over one million inbound travelers, respectively, as the number of international air arrivals to the South Aegean islands reached its highest figure to date. Looking at the inbound air arrivals on the Ionian Islands shows that other popular Greek destinations, like Corfu and Zante, also experienced the same trend, with inbound arrivals reaching an all-time high in 2024.

As of 2020, roughly ******* visitors from France stayed overnight in Amsterdam, while Rotterdam was the second most popular destination for French tourists, with approximately ** thousand visitors.

In 2019 there were **** million tourist arrivals in hotels in Paris. Despite the development of new hosting methods like the famous online platform Airbnb, Parisian hotels keep being one of the most favored ways to stay in the City of Lights. In 2018, the occupancy rate of hotels in Paris reached ** percent.

Tourist arrivals in the French capital

The number of tourist arrivals in Parisian hotels has been increasing for the last ten years. After a small decrease in 2016, a consequence of the 2015 terrorist attacks which occurred in the French capital, the number of arrivals keeps growing. In 2018, there were more than **** million international tourist arrivals in hotels in Paris, compared to **** million French tourist arrivals. 3-star hotels represented the majority of hotel arrivals in inner Paris in 2018. That year, more than *** million tourists stayed in * star hotels.

Being a tourist in Paris

Paris is one of the most visited cities in Europe and in the World. Monuments like the Palace of Versailles attract millions of tourists every year whether they come from abroad or from France. It appears that there is not much difference between an international tourist and a French tourist discovering Paris. In a survey from 2014, both French and foreign tourists mentioned discovering the city and visiting museums and monuments as their leading holiday motivations. However, foreign tourists seem to spend more than French ones. On average international visitors spend more on food and drink as well as on shopping than French tourists.

A May 2024 analysis looked at the most popular city destinations on social media worldwide based on a series of criteria, such as the number of Instagram posts related to that specific destination or the increase in Google searches. Based on the analysis, Nice in France took the top spot in the ranking, with an index score of **** out of 10. London in the United Kingdom and Paris in France followed behind, with an index score of **** and ****, respectively.

In 2015, Dubai was the city with the highest number of tourists staying at least one night per capita. That same year, international overnight visitor spending in Dubai reached 28.5 billion US dollars. The city, which is the largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, was also one of the most expensive holiday destinations in the world in 2018. In 2016, 14.87 million people visited Dubai from abroad.

Europe and Asia: top destinations

According to the source, most of the 20 tourist cities with the highest number of visitor arrivals per capita were Asian or European cities. After Dubai, Amsterdam and Prague were the second and third cities with the greatest number of tourists spending at least one night per capita. With respectively, 2.7 and 2.5 visitors per capita, the two European cities were followed by another one: London. Singapore, ranked fifth with 2.1 visitors per capita, was the first Asian city in the list. Thus, New-York the first North American city of this ranking was 17th. It appears that Europe remains one of the most popular tourist destinations. Asia was also a very attractive destinations for international visitors with Hong-Kong being the leading city destination in 2017.

Focus on tourism in Europe

Since the nineties, the number of international tourist arrivals in Europe keeps increasing. France is the European country with the largest number of international visitors’ arrivals, while Spain and Italy are also two of the leading tourist destinations on the continent. Travel and tourism have an important contribution to GDP in Europe, reaching 781.6 billion US dollar and 2018 and expected to attain 991.4 billion in 2028.

In 2015, the majority of tourists visiting the Eiffel tower in Paris were French. That year, French tourists represented more than ** percent of the **** million people who visited Paris’s most famous monument.

The Eiffel Tower: a touristic attraction

The Eiffel tower is known worldwide as one of the symbols of Paris. Its iconic figure, constructed for the 1889 World’s Fair, makes it one of the most photographed monuments worldwide. In 2017, the Eiffel Tower was the most instagrammed attraction in Europe. Alongside with French tourists, North Americans also seem to put the Eiffel Tower on their to-do list when visiting Paris. They accounted for more than ** percent of visitors. Thus, despite its long queues in order to reach the top of the monument, the tower benefits from positive reviews from its visitors. In a survey from 2015, **** percent of people who went to the Eiffel Tower declared they would consider returning one day to the famous monument.

Most visited monuments in Paris

Despite its popularity, the Eiffel tower does not welcome the highest number of tourists in Paris. In a city which contains some of the most visited monuments in the world, it is sometimes difficult to be at the top. In 2017, Notre-Dame attracted ** million tourists, making it the city’s top tourist attraction. The cathedral, which caught fire on April 2019, has remained closed for months and would probably lose its leading position that year.

According to a study by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), Paris was the city with the highest direct travel and tourism contribution to GDP in 2022. That year, the direct travel and tourism GDP in the capital of France - the country with the highest number of international tourist arrivals worldwide - amounted to roughly ***** billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Beijing and Orlando followed on the ranking in 2022, with a direct travel and tourism GDP of around **** billion and **** billion U.S. dollars, respectively.

Madrid was the most visited city destination in Spain in 2023, having welcomed nearly ** million overnight visitors. The Catalonian capital followed second in the ranking that year, with roughly *** million tourists spending at least one night in the destination. How did Madrid rank in tourist visits and accommodation? In 2022, Madrid attracted over 4.5 million domestic and 4.6 million international tourists for stays exceeding one day, despite experiencing a more than 10 percent decrease compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, the Spanish capital has consistently ranked among the top ten European cities with the highest number of nights spent by tourists in paid accommodation, securing the 8th position that year. Which regions attracted the most international tourists? Spain's international tourism rebounded strongly from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, surpassing 100 million visitors in 2022. Catalonia led as the most visited region, attracting over **** million international tourists. The United Kingdom played a pivotal role as the primary source of international tourists, contributing over ** million travelers, followed by France with around ** million visitors.

The number of international tourist arrivals worldwide rose sharply in 2023 compared to the previous year across all the most visited destinations in the world. Overall, France was the most visited country by inbound travelers worldwide in 2023, with *** million international tourist arrivals. Spain, the United States, and Italy followed in the ranking that year. Has global inbound tourism recovered from the impact of COVID-19? In 2023, the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide totaled approximately *** billion. While this figure represented a ** percent annual increase, it remained below the peak in inbound tourist arrivals reported in 2019, the year before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, international tourism receipts worldwide exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2023, peaking at *** trillion U.S. dollars. What are the most popular global regions for inbound tourism? When breaking down the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide by region, Europe has consistently reported the highest volume of inbound travelers, both before and after the impact of the health crisis. In 2023, this region alone accounted for roughly ** percent of global inbound tourist arrivals. Meanwhile, Asia and the Pacific recorded the second-highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide in 2023.

The capital of France was the most attractive city destination worldwide in 2021, according to a global ranking based on *** performance pillars. The best-rated metric for the "City of Lights" – as Paris is also known – was its tourism performance, whereas its health and safety indicator obtained the city's lowest score. That year, Dubai placed second in the ranking, with its tourism policy and attractiveness, along with its health and safety metric, being the best performing pillars. In each of those categories, Dubai occupied the world's ****** place.

From a former royal residence to an internationally renowned museum, the Louvre is one of the most popular cultural sites worldwide. Attendance at the famous Parisian institution, the most visited museum worldwide, reached *** million in 2024. This figure represented an annual decline in visitors of *** percent. How many museums are there in France? In 2024, Île-de-France, the region that includes the city of Paris, was one of the regions with the highest number of museums in France, ranking just behind Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Overall, there were over ***** museums in the country in 2024. As estimated, the museum market's revenue in France exceeded *** billion U.S. dollars that year. How many tourists visit Paris every year? The total number of tourist arrivals to Paris, including both domestic and inbound visitors, reached almost ** million in 2023, nearly catching up with the peak in arrivals reported in 2019. As the number of travelers almost recovered from the impact of COVID-19, the total tourism consumption in Paris followed the same trend, amounting to over ** billion euros in 2023.