Despite concerns about rising living costs, heatwaves, and wildfires, the summer of 2022 seems to have been good for the French tourism industry, as local and foreign tourists flocked to the country after the COVID-19 pandemic rattled the sector for two years.

According to Tourism Minister Olivia Gregoire, early data show that the summer of 2022 will be "exceptional," with 35 million French people going on holiday, or seven out of 10 compared to six last year.

Meanwhile, she said that credit card spending in French hotels and restaurants increased 10% over the previous year throughout the summer. France is heavily reliant on tourism, which accounts for 8% of the national GDP and employs two million people.

Data for July and the first part of August revealed that revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key measure of hotel performance, was up 22.2% when compared to Summer 2019.

The return of wealthy foreign tourists, especially from the United States due to a strong dollar, and from Gulf countries, pushed increased RevPAR in the Paris region and the Riviera. France was the most visited country in the world in 2019, with nearly 90 million foreign tourists.

"We want to remain the number one destination in the world," Gregoire said. When asked if France still targeted 100 million foreign tourists, Gregoire said: "It may not be impossible to reach that number, this is a target we can have,"