France is the world's most visited country. So why hasn't it turned on tourism?

🌎 France welcomed more than 100 million people in 2024, but tourism protests have been few and far between.

In Greece, locals are spraying graffiti. In Italy, Portugal and Spain, they have resorted to water guns and mass protests. 

While anti-tourism sentiment has begun to bubble over across Europe, one country is conspicuous in its relative silence. And it’s the most visited country in the world:

✅ France.

Although it welcomes about 100 million travellers each year, France rarely makes headlines for tourism protests – a stark contrast to its neighbours, who have increasingly vented frustration over crowded cities, rising rents and bad behaviour.

There is no single reason why France has avoided the backlash, and fears that one could still be coming aren’t unfounded. But a commitment to sustainable tourism, strong infrastructure and a strategy to spread visitors across regions and seasons all play a part.

✅ France has played the long game

Unlike many countries now scrambling to rein in mass tourism, France started laying the groundwork years ago.

Atout France, the country’s tourism development agency, has made sustainability a central tenet of its strategy. Under a 10-year roadmap – the Destination France Plan – the government earmarked €1.9 billion in 2021 to encourage greener, more responsible travel.

That means pushing for rail travel over short-haul flights, investing in mid-sized cities and nudging visitors beyond the usual suspects, like Paris or Nice.