ATOUT France in Dubai, the French tourism ministry’s office for the promotion of destination France to the Middle East and Turkey markets, is once again very focused on promoting the country’s various tourism offerings at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM).
Joining Atout France will be a select contingent of stands with partners from major hotels, Paris and top ski resorts. “The Middle East continues to represent a key market for inbound tourism to France with both a stable number of travellers and comparatively high spend per visitor from the high worth travelers from the region in general,” said Karim Mekachera, regional director for Atout France. 2012 has proven to be an excellent year in terms of airline growth out of the Middle East with France taking its fair share of development. The Air France and Etihad code share agreement serves to underline the importance of the Paris CDG gateway, and we have seen the success of the new Emirates Airlines Dubai-Lyon route since December 2012, opening up a host of alternative travel possibilities to Middle East travellers through the Lyon Airport gateway and France’s second city Lyon and onwards to the French Alps nearby and even into Provence. Atout France’s presence at ATM 2013 reflects this diversity, with stands representing Rhône-Alpes Tourism and the city of Lyon, along with a string of mountain resorts famous for being green in summer and winter white for the ski season; an important Paris delegation with top hotels, the great Parisian shopping department stores and incoming operators. The tourism board also re-launched its new French tourism website www.rendezvousenfrance.com, now offering veritable mine of information for travelling in France. It hosts an interactive map of France allowing the visitor to directly access content on the chosen destination, a gateway opening up the diversity of France from the French Riviera to the vast mountain ranges and from the castles of the Loire valley to the majestic sites of the capital Paris. As of May 2013, the travel trade in the Middle East will have a dedicated portal to become Certified France Specialists. The different on-line training modules will take the agencies through the best of the French regions, including information on where their clients can find halal restaurants and even places of worship in France, and delivering an official “France Specialist” certificate on passing the last of the modules.