Paris is waiting for the double growth of the Russian tourist flow. It is planned to achieve these goals through a large-scale update of tourist offers in Paris.

The protests in Paris, which began last week, have not yet decreased the demand for this destination among Russian tourists.

By the end of 2019, the Russian tourist flow to France will grow by at least 10% in annual terms. Tour operators note greater dynamics of sales in one of the most popular European destinations among Russians.

Russian skiers and snowboarders spent about 200 thousand nights at the resorts of the French Alps last winter season. The resort of Three Valleys is the leader in popularity among Russian tourists.

The interest of Russian tourists in tours to France in the summer 2019 has significantly grown, tour operators reported about 10-40% increase in sales of tours compared to the same period last year.

On June 1, Russia’s largest airline, Aeroflot, launched regular flights from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo to Marseille. The route will be operated five times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays by the 140-seat A320 aircraft. According to OAG Schedules Analyser, Aeroflot will face competition from French carrier Aigle Azur twice-weekly through the carriers A320 operations (Fridays and Sundays).  

In the season-2019 the volumes of direct transportation to France increased. According to market participants, the relative stability of exchange rates and the emergence of new flights to the cities of France led to an increase in demand for sightseeing and beach tours on the destination from 5 to 100%. At the same time, tour operators have noted a good depth of sales of tours: from 3 to 5 months.  

Rossia Airline announced the launch of the flight program from Moscow to Nice. The carrier will compete with existing Aeroflot flights. According to the airline, Rossia opened the flight SU 6139 along the Moscow-Nice route from May 28. The flights are operated from Sheremetyevo daily. 

This summer, Ural Airlines will launch a new flight from Moscow to the French city of Montpellier. For the new flights, tour operators are already forming offers, including a beach holiday. Ural Airlines will significantly expand its presence on the French market this year.

Several airlines immediately announced new routes to France this year. In the summer season they will perform 15 additional flights to the south of the country a week. In this case the destination can count on the explosive growth of the tourist traffic. A workshop of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region was held in Moscow with the participation of representatives of hotels, airlines, tourist offices of cities and resorts.

At least 20 new services between Russia and France with several new routes are being launched at the start of the summer season, leading to expectations of a marked increase in the number of passengers, Rusaviainsider.com reported.  Last year, Russia and France signed an air service agreement to increase the frequency of flights between the countries from 87 up to 121 per week for regular flights. In addition, the quota for charter flights was doubled from 40 to 80 and two new French destinations, namely Montpellier and Marseille, were included in the intergovernmental air service agreement. 

Alexandra Mikheeva, the head of France department of the tour operator told about programs and plans of ANEX Tour in France. “ANEX Tour is a tour operator of mass destinations, but we are trying to expand our horizons: France has become one of our most important new products in this season.

On November 8, a joint meeting of Atout France and ANEX Tour operator, which opened sales of package tours to France, was held at French Embassy in Moscow.

“In the past two years the Russians have traveled more often to French region of Alsace. In 2017 the tourist flow grew by 68%, in the first half of 2018 - by 6%”, - said the French Ambassador to Russia Sylvie Bermann. "Last year the number of Russian tourists visited the region increased by 68%.

“Tour operators note the growing demand for budget trips to France such as Paris and the Cote d'Azur, tourists prefer longer tours in hotels of low category”, - said Irina Tyurina, the Press secretary of the Russian Tourist Industry Union (RCT). "The increase in the capital is from 15 to 25%, while sales of tours to the French Riviera grew by more than 40%.

“Russian tourists made more than 230,000 trips to the French capital in 2017, which is 51% more than a year ago”, - reported the Head of the Russian representative office of the Agency of Tourism Development in France «Atout France» Inessa Korotkova. "In Paris in 2017 we recorded 230,1 thousand Russian arrivals, 51% more than a year earlier.

Pobeda airline will start flights from Moscow airport Vnukovo to French Bordeaux since June 2 twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Tickets are available for purchasing on the carrier's website, their minimum current value is 10,792 Rubles (144 Euros) for round trip. It is noticeable, that today there is no other direct air transportation from the Russian capital to Bordeaux. There are only connecting flights, so the route can be interesting for tour operators. At the same time, Pobeda, as usual, does not offer market participants blocks of seats on their boards by special tariffs, tickets can be purchased only according to the standard procedure in booking systems. Let's add, the first French route of Pobeda airline does not compete with the flights used by tour operators - to Paris or to ski resorts.

“France expects to host a pre-crisis number of tourists from Russia in 2017”, - said Inessa Korotkova, the Head of French representative office of the Agency for the Development of Tourism (Atout France) in Russia and the CIS. "You know that after 2014 the Russian tourism to Europe has seriously fallen, but already in 2016 we noticed a revival - the number of Russian tourists reached 600 thousand. This year we see a significant jump of tourist flow to France from all markets, but Russia shows the largest growth for January-October period among all countries.

“The tourist flow from Russia to France since the beginning of the year increased by 30% agaist the first half of 2016”, - told the Head of the French Agency for the development of tourism with Russia and CIS Inessa Korotkova. "We have a significant increase since the beginning of the year. According to hoteliers, the tourist flow from Russia increased by 30% to France and to Paris - by more 40%. Last year we hosted 600 thousand Russian tourists, so in this year, I think, the tourist flow will come close to the figure of one million", - she said.

“French airline Aigle Azur intends to resume flights from Paris to Moscow from December 2, 2017”, - according to the data, published on the website of the carrier. Flights are scheduled to be performed twice a week from Paris airport Orly to Moscow's Domodedovo airport by Airbus A320. Departure of the flight ZI515 from Paris is scheduled on Fridays and Sundays at 22:15, arriving to Moscow at 4:00.

“S7 Airlines will start regular flights from St. Petersburg to Lyon since December 29, 2017”, - reported the carrier's press service. Direct flights from Pulkovo Airport will be performed weekly on Fridays. Departure from St. Petersburg is at 7:05, arrival to Lyon airport - at 8:35 of local time. The return flight will depart at 9:25 and arrive to Pulkovo at 14:55. Flights will be carried out by Airbus A319. "Since December travelers from St. Petersburg can make direct flights to Lyon, from which it is easy to reach the popular resorts in French Alps - Chamonix and Val d'Isère.

“The tourist flow to France from Russia has increased by 30% since the beginning of 2017”, - said the Head of the representative office of French Agency for the development of tourism in Russia (Atout France) I. Korotkova. "Russian tourists are on increasingly important place in the structure of the tourist flow, 600 thousand Russian tourists we hosted in 2016.

“The tourist flow to Paris began to recover in 2017. In January, the capital of France was visited by a record number of tourists for such period of the last 10 years”, - informed the press service of the Office for Tourism and Congresses of Paris. In February the number of all international arrivals to Paris increased by 11%. The number of tourists from Russia has grown by almost 70%.

“In the first month of the year the Russian tourists received 12 thousand visas to France, it is twice more than in January 2016”, - reported Mark Sedy the Consul General of France in Russia. "Last January, we issued 100% more visas, than in the same month in 2016. Totally, we issued 12 thousand French Schengen visas, and 60% of them are multiple - for the period from one to five years", - he said. According to the Consul, the visas are issued to applicants within 48 hours.