France draws record high of 89m tourists in 2017

PARIS - France received a record high number of foreign holidaymakers in 2017, maintaining its position as a main tourist destination in the world, figures released by the foreign ministry showed Wednesday.

"2017 confirmed the strong recovery of international tourist traffic on the French territory with a record of nearly 89 million foreign visitors," said the foreign ministry, which is in charge of the tourism portfolio.

The number of nights spent stood at 132.7 million, up by 6.8 percent last year from a year earlier.

Thanks to its wealthy history and abundant cultural and natural heritage, France drew 32.9 more Russian tourists over the period while the number of Japanese holidaymakers rose by 22.1 percent.

The number of Chinese tourists was up 19.3 percent, and visitors from the United States were up by 16 percent.

Regarding arrivals of European tourists, those from Germany grew by 9.9 percent. South Mediterranean markets such as Spain and Italy also recorded a rise of 11.3 percent and 9.2 percent respectively, according to the ministry figures.

By 2020, France hopes to to welcome 100 million tourists, the report said.