France's 2025 winter tourism season (Dec '24 - Mar '25) showed a stable picture, with roughly 86.1 million overnight stays in collective tourist spots, on par with the previous year, as shown by recent figures. Interestingly, while domestic travel dipped a bit, a strong showing from international travelers, particularly those coming from the United States and various parts of Europe, really helped keep things afloat.
Urban centers, particularly Paris, and improving international air travel, definitely played a significant role in driving the growth. However, it's worth noting that challenges remain, especially in mountain areas and regarding domestic demand, which is now setting the scene for what could be a very dynamic summer.
A Key Role of International Travelers
Foreign tourists played a vital role in keeping France's winter tourism sector strong. They accounted for an extra 900,000 overnight stays (around a 3.3% increase) compared to 2024. Non-resident visitors’ share grew by 1.2 percentage points. On the flip side, overnight stays from French tourists went down by 1.4 million, suggesting a somewhat more cautious approach to traveling within the country. This increase in international demand highlights France's continued strong position as a popular global destination, especially for upscale and urban tourism.
Looking specifically at hotels, European visitors still represented the biggest group of foreign tourists. Visitors from Britain lead the way with about 2.9 million overnight stays, despite declining roughly 19.5% compared to 2024. Other European markets, such as Spain, showed some resilience. A strong return of American tourists, with hotel stays increasing by 41.2% to a total of 2.6 million, made them the second-largest foreign group.
Paris: Driving Urban Tourism
A bright spot appeared in urban tourism, which saw overnight stays in large cities increase by almost 2% compared to the winter before. Paris was the main reason behind this, adding around 800,000 overnight stays, including 600,000 in the hotel sector alone. The city's attraction, along with a growing preference for nicer places to stay, 4- and 5-star hotels now accounting for more than a third of winter stays, fueled this positive trend. However, business-related hotel stays kept falling, making up only around a third of all hotel nights, a trend since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Challenges in the Mountains
Mountain regions, traditionally popular for winter tourism, experienced a decline of around 2.3% in collective accommodation stays. This was mainly because of fewer stays in non-hotel options, like holiday villages, residences, and youth hostels, which make up close to 60% of all mountain stays. This downturn was mainly driven by French tourists, with roughly 900,000 fewer overnight stays, dropping almost 5%. At the same time, the increase of foreign visitors, at 4.3%, offered some relief. Hosting approximately 18.4 million overnight stays (around three-quarters of all visits to mountain regions), the Alps experienced a milder decline of about 1.6% compared to other mountainous areas, but the impact was felt across all regions.
Rebounding International Air Travel
France's tourism sector was also supported by international air travel recovery. Air arrivals increased by about 3% in March 2025, pushing year-to-date growth up to 8%. Significant monthly gains came from several countries, including Australia (up about 27%), Japan (up about 28%), India (around 28%), China (around 16%), and Canada (up over 10%). Some regions also observed decline, with Mexico declining approximately 44%, Sweden around 20%, and Denmark around 9%. The growth in international arrivals in France was roughly 3%, behind Spain (around 5%) and similar to Italy (+2%), but things are looking optimistic.
Summer Season in France: Looking Ahead
Looking ahead, international air arrivals are estimated to go up by around 5% from April to June 2025, with particularly high demand from Nordic countries, for example, Sweden around 22% and Denmark with about 9%. Strong demand is also projected from long-haul markets like the U.S. (up approximately 6%), Canada (around 11%), South Korea (roughly 10%), and Australia (around 30%). Domestic booking rates for commercial accommodations remain strong in select areas, showing a continuing interest in local stays. But the difference between international and domestic demand is still noticeable, and success of the high season will depend on.
A Picture of Recovery, Though Not Without Its Shadows
France's winter tourism landscape in 2025 shows a sector that's changing; it's supported by interest from abroad, but also affected by a bit of caution at home. Paris and higher-end hotels are doing quite well, but mountain areas are seeing their own struggles. As the summer months get closer, using the strong international interest and dealing with any uncertainty at home will be important to keep France up as a top place to visit worldwide and importantly, support operators’ abilities to turn possible interest into actual confirmed bookings.
