Olympic legacy continues for France with focus on rail

France is continuing to put sports tourism centre stage as it builds on the success of this year’s Olympics.

Speaking to TTG at last week’s WTM London, tourism minister Marina Ferrari said that alongside the country’s heritage she saw sporting events as the key driver of tourism in the next five years – a period which culminates in the Winter Olympics in the French Alps in 2030.

Mrs Ferrari said: “This summer we wanted to not only underline the importance of Paris, but of all the towns and cities that hosted sporting events, including Lille and Marseille, where the Olympic flame actually arrived.

“During the Games we saw an enormous delegation from Britain, and we see sports tourists continuing to cross the Channel – more than 10% of visitors to France this year have come from the UK.”

Mrs Ferrari said tourism body Atout France had been working on plans to ease tourism flows both in Paris, and throughout France, while France was also focussing on train and bus travel, to ensure sustainable tourism growth.

“We’re working with SNCF to ensure more tourists use trains – but we’re also working to introduce more coaches. If you put 50 people on a coach, then you’re saving 15 cars on the road,” she said.

The next big event in France will be the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Sunday 8 December 8, following the devastating fire in 2019.