01 — The two ledgers
Inbound and outbound, side by side. Each figure on its own perimeter and vintage — do not net them across years.
| Ledger | Measure | Value | Scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inbound | International visitors | 102M +2% YoY | Atout France estimate, 2025 (100M in 2024) |
| International receipts | €77.5bn +9% | Banque de France, 2025; DGE review, 19 Feb 2026 | |
| Tourism balance | €20.1bn surplus | Balance of payments, 2025 | |
| Spend per stay | €760 +7% | Average per international visitor, 2025 | |
| Outbound | Visits abroad | 38.0M | UN Tourism series, 2025 |
| Travel debit | €57.4bn +4% | Banque de France via DGE review | |
| Nights abroad | 248M +4% | Same review | |
| Travel propensity | ≈25% | Residents travelling abroad in a year; CBI study |
The domestic third ledger. France is also the French people's favourite destination: 835 million resident nights in France in 2025 (53% of all tourist nights), half of them in the four southern regions (INSEE/Atout France). Inbound records and outbound growth happen on top of a domestic market that never empties.
02 — The 2026 inbound mirror
The widely quoted Q1 2026 air-booking prints belong here, on the inbound side — bookings by these markets into France, three-month horizon, year on year (DGE/Atout France review):
Forward occupancy for the 2025/26 season ran +1.3 points across accommodation types. The 2025 inbound mix: Europeans led nights (+5%, Germany notably +9%), North Americans rose >10%, Asia rebounded with Japan outpacing China. None of this describes the French traveller — for that ledger, read the outbound dossier.
03 — Gateways
2025 throughput, all nationalities (ADP / UAF):
| Airport | 2025 pax | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Paris-CDG | 72.0M +2.5% | Long-haul hub; 5.4% below 2019; H1 2026 flat |
| Paris-Orly | 34.9M +5.5% | Domestic, overseas and European point-to-point; 9.7% above 2019 |
| Nice Côte d'Azur | 15.2M +3.2% | The premium coastal gateway — serves the Côte d'Azur shelf |
| Marseille | 11.3M +1.4% | Low-cost and Maghreb flows |
| Lyon | 10.7M +2.4% | Regional hub with rail intermodality |
04 — TIO coverage of France
Everything the office publishes on the country, one click away:
Sources. DGE / Atout France — 2025 tourism review, 19 Feb 2026 (visitors, receipts, balance, spend per stay, nights, Q1 2026 inbound bookings, forward occupancy) · Banque de France — travel credits and debit, via the same review · INSEE — tourism satellite account, domestic nights · UN Tourism — outbound visits, via VisitBritain · Groupe ADP — 2025 traffic; UAF — regional airport files · CBI — France outbound market study. Figures are published data on the perimeters stated; the Atout France 102M is an estimate, labelled as such by the publisher.