TravTalk India Online Magazine
Sheetal Munshaw, Director, Atout France, predicts a significant rise in Indian visitors to France, characterised by extended stays and exploration of off-the-beaten-path destinations. In 2025, the NTO will adopt a highly targeted approach, focusing on niche markets and segmented audiences to cater to diverse interests.
Hazel Jain
Sheetal Munshaw, Director, Atout France, said that they have been receiving “some very encouraging results” for their certified B2B e-learning programme, ‘France Connaisseur’. “We have received nearly 1,500 registrations but only 100 certifications. So, we are hoping that more agents will certify this year. To facilitate this, we also introduced a new France Connaisseur e-learning Award under the Ambassador’s Travel Awards this year, which is awarded to one travel professional for having successfully completed the programme. We received tonnes of agency applications across India who actually were beyond the distinction mark, as a result of which we actually had to do a lucky draw. So, I would say, 2024 was a big year of learning, simply because it was still in the wake of the post-pandemic,” she said.
Munshaw said that the biggest learning for Atout France is to continue to learn, to understand, to be receptive, to better apprehend what the market really wants. “France continues to stay on top. But we are not at all complacent. The biggest segment for us will continue to be families and individuals. That is how India travels. I think, we will see a lot of opportunity also in longer stays, discovering more of France, discovering more unexplored parts of France as far as the Indian market is concerned. Then, of course, we have seen in the wake of all the sports events and concerts that people are really traveling towards that as well. Food and wine tourism is going to be a big one for us. I believe we will see a lot more travellers being inspired to travel for culinary tourism,” she explained.
Longer stays to discover more
Munshaw is certain that there will be a growing influx of Indian visitors to France with longer stays and discoveries of lesser-known regions. “We will continue to showcase France’s art de vivre and savoir faire through our activations. We have seen a growing interest in sports tourism. For all of the above, it is important to constantly enhance product knowledge of the destination and keeping the robust competition in mind. We have also seen a rapid influx of visitors from tier II and tier III cities and we will broaden our network to better connect with these audiences,”
she shared.
Munshaw believes a lot of itineraries that were sent in as candidatures this year are proof to the fact that India is now travelling all over France. “Of course, the gateway city will remain Paris. But Indians are travelling to Bordeaux, to Burgundy, to Occitanie, to Champagne, to Alsace, to the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, to the smallest ski station. So, it’s definitely growing. Moreover, we did a survey in 2024 that indicated a lot of interest and a lot of volition to really showcase remoter parts of France,” she said.
Strategy this year
Atout France is going “very, very niche and segmented” this year, Munshaw revealed, adding that, “Our approach is going to be more segmented in 2025. A first in this step will be our participation at the OTM, where France will be showcased as a leisure destination to agents pan India. We will also be participating in EPEX to interact and connect with the wedding and incentive domain that has seen a rapid growth for France and lastly, we will be organising a luxury showcase in 2025 focusing only on France’s luxury tourism offer.”
