Ariane Gorin, president of Expedia for Business, was in Paris yesterday to participate in the Destination France summit, and is betting more than ever on France at a time when international tourism seems to be taking off again.
An event “recalling the importance of the tourism sector in France”, according to Ariane Gorin, ready for a structural revival. At least that’s what Expedia hopes. “International tourism, which we have been missing for several months, is picking up,” says the manager. And some destinations neglected during the pandemic are attracting again. “In September, Paris is one of the 10 most searched cities on Expedia. It was no longer the case”. Similarly, the capital concentrates 30% of reservations in France during the third quarter of the year.
Because France weighs heavily in the group’s activity. In 2019, 2 million Americans came to France via one of the Expedia group brands. “It’s half of the total number of American tourists who visited France that year,” boasts Ariane Gorin. “And we are not talking about other source markets to France. We can therefore say that we are a major partner of the tourism sector in France”. A sector that the American group wishes to “support in its revival”.
A strong recovery
To illustrate its desire, Expedia has renewed its partnership with Atout France initiated in 2018. “We are going even further. Since 2018, we have invested together with Atout France just over 9 million euros as part of this partnership. For the year 2022 alone, we will invest 6 million euros”, figures Ariane Gorin. A budget that will be used to “implement actions to make the destination’s offer better known” by using user data collected by the two structures. “Based on this data, we will define targets and we will decide what we want to highlight”.
Foreign or domestic market, hotels or activities, … Expedia, which carries out other operations of this kind with other destinations, never does it with “as much scope”, according to Ariane Gorin. “Obviously, we will also benefit from the return of international tourism,” smiles Ariane Gorin.
A recovery also “much stronger than expected” in some places. “Regarding the hotel industry, for example, it is the workforce that is lacking. But the demand is there,” concludes Ariane Gorin.
