Vacation planning
This will be the most sought-after holiday destination in the world – and it’s very close…
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USA, Australia, Thailand – aren’t these the most popular holiday destinations in the world? And what about Italy or Spain?
What comes to mind when you think about the… Must-sees think about the world? New York, Grand Canyon, Great Barrier Reef, Taj Mahal, the Pyramids of Giza…? Oh, there are so many wonderful things to see! But “why wander into the distance when the good is so close?” As is well known, the old Goethe asked that.
In fact, we only need to cross a single border to see the world’s most sought-after sights, cities, villages and coastlines, reports British magazine Condé Nast Traveler. Namely after France.
The country has everything you need on vacation
From the romantic streets of Paris and the charming coastal towns of Normandy and Brittany to the Loire castles, the Alps, the elegant French Riviera and the quirky Corsicans, France is indeed incredibly diverse. And so it’s not a particularly big surprise that the country is said to be well on its way to becoming the most visited country in the world. According to the latest data from “GlobalData”, over 93 million guests are expected each year.
France has been number 1 several times
Speaking of which: France has often been number 1 among the most popular travel destinations. With around 90 million visitors, the Grande Nation was already ahead of the top dog Spain in 2019, according to “Statista”. Then Spain pushed its northern neighbor off the winner’s podium. However, France is now in the process of regaining the title it held before the pandemic. The Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024 will certainly help put the country on many people’s travel map.
“Bon Voyage” across the country
What is also said to be new is that travelers from overseas no longer just concentrated on the capital, but also visited other regions. For example, guests from the USA are increasingly willing to “sacrifice part of their time in Paris in order to venture outside our capital,” says Anne-Laure Tuncer from the tourism agency Atout France. She names the Bordeaux region, Alsace, Burgundy and the Loire Valley as favorites on the mainland – closely followed by Martinique and Guadeloupe in the French Caribbean. And as we all know, La Réunion in the Indian Ocean is one of them.
Sources used: Condé Nast Traveler, Statista