Tourism in France, often celebrated as the jewel in the crown of the national economy, hides a dark side that is causing increasing concern. Indeed, this industry, which has made France the most visited country in the world with 48 million international visitors in 2021, is a major environmental headache.
A contribution by Benoît Prigent, co-founder of Lokki
The contrast is distressing: on the one hand, tourism is an undeniable and indispensable source of revenue for the French economy: 57.9 billion euros in 2022. On the other, it has an alarming ecological impact. Alone, it is responsible for 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
With its 30 million annual tourists, France contributes significantly to the carbon footprint, not least because of its dependence on air transport, which carried more than half of all international tourists in 2018.
In addition to CO2 emissions, mass tourism creates other environmental ills, such as over-tourism, well known to the people of Marseille, who are trying as best they can to reduce access to their Calanques. In France, 80% of tourist activity is concentrated on 20% of the territory!
Things are moving, but in a way that is still far too timid and lacking in transparency for tourists, who nonetheless want to take action.
In December, experts from Atout France studied what the face of tourism would look like in 2024. The answer: it will be sustainable... if the players get their act together.
Because that little word, "sustainable", is on everyone's lips. People want to be able to calculate the carbon footprint of their vacations, but they also want to know which place, which accommodation, which itinerary, which leisure activity to do, that won't endanger the planet. In other words, they need "sustainable" to be more than just a word, but a concrete proposal for a different way of traveling.
It's time for our sector to get to grips with this subject.
It's up to us, tourism professionals, accommodation providers, tour operators, to transform our offers to make them more eco-compatible.
It's up to us to develop new ways of traveling.
It's up to us to show that Creuse and Lozère are just as sexy as the crowded beaches of the Mediterranean coast.
It's up to us to offer new itineraries to help French people, who need nature and adventure more than ever, get away from it all.
It's up to us to make sure that discovering France is not just for the ultra-rich.
It's an environmental issue. But it's also an economic issue for tourism, which has been on the wane since the Covid pandemic. Admittedly, there was a revival in 2022, with over 960 million international tourists, but this still only represents two-thirds of the pre-pandemic volume.
Sustainable tourism is therefore no longer an option, but an imperative necessity. As a world leader in tourism, France is at a crossroads: it must not only preserve its status as a preferred destination, but also become a model of environmentally-friendly tourism.
It's time to act boldly and decisively to ensure a future where economy and ecology coexist in harmony.
