世界旅游地理

第二部分 区域旅游地理 The Regional Geography of Travel and Tourism

第十一章 法国旅游地理 Chapter 11 The Tourism Geography of France

INTRODUCTION For many years, France has been the world’s top tourist destination in terms of visitor arrivals and one of the leading countries in terms of tourism receipts. This means that tourism is important in the economy, representing 7 per cent of GDP. France was one of the first countries to recognise the importance of the industry, setting up a national tourism office as early as 1910. It is no coincidence that much of the vocabulary used in tourism is of French origin, particularly as regards the hotel and catering sectors.

The Factors Contributing to France’s Success It is the largest country in Western Europe, boasting a natural resource base which includes 5500 kilometres of coastline, some of Europe’s finest rivers and mountain areas. Variety of climates and landscape features. French culture has been widely emulated. French is one of the most widely spoken world languages. France is one of the world’s leading economic powers and has been at the forefront of technological advance. France can offer a wide variety of tourism products based on these resources.

Tourism Products Special interest holidays. The Club Mediterranée holiday village concept in beach and sport tourism. The importance of spa tourism. The importance of faith tourism in a country where, although secularism has long been an official policy, 80 per cent of the population are, at least nominally, Catholic. Winter sports are offered in the mountain resorts of the Alps and the Pyrenees. Sailing is another major activity, which has spawned a massive investment by the public and private sectors in coastal marina developments. Other activity and adventure-based types of tourism include: boating, canoeing, horse riding, cycling, surfing, diving, mountain climbing, caving, hiking, Golf and so on.

THE DEMAND FOR TOURISM The French tend to take their holidays in France, due to the country’s range of tourism resources and also the tradition of spending the summer in the south. As a consequence, the propensity of the French to travel abroad – at 10 per cent – is lower than for most other West Europeans.

DOMESTIC TOURISM France has a very high proportion of domestic holiday taking, with trips demonstrating a number of characteristics: They are lengthy, often three or four weeks； They are concentrated into the peak summer months； A wide distribution of holiday destinations is evident; Half of all domestic trips are to destinations within, or close to, the tourist’s home region; The car accounts for 80 per cent of domestic holiday journeys; Self-catering, second homes and visiting friends and relatives account for the majority of holidays; The majority of holidays are arranged independently, but work councils and other non-profit-making organisations play an important role. Short breaks have grown in popularity at the expense of the long vacation, with many people taking three or four short breaks every year.

Social Tourism Social tourism represents a very strong movement in France and is significant for French domestic patterns of demand. There was a spectacular growth in social tourism initiatives in the 1960s, and in the late 1990s, the government established a new fund to allow the unemployed and poorer citizens to take a holiday, using spare capacity in the coastal resorts. Examples of social tourism initiatives include: Children’s hostels: colonies des vacances; Family holiday villages: villages vacances familiales (VVF) and Government schemes such as the cheque vacances to boost holiday opportunities for the disadvantaged groups in society.

讨论：如何看待法国的社会补贴旅游？ 同类政策在中国是否可行？ 讨论：如何看待法国的社会补贴旅游？ 同类政策在中国是否可行？

OUTBOUND TOURISM INBOUND TOURISM Some 27 million trips are taken abroad, two-thirds of which are spent in other European countries, particularly Spain or Italy. Long-haul tourism has shown consistent growth, with the USA and French-speaking destinations tending to be the most popular. France ranks as one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations with around 84.7 million arrivals in 2013. The growth in inbound tourism has been helped by developments such as the Channel Tunnel and Disneyland Paris, as well as a number of sports events that attracted worldwide TV coverage. Spending abroad by French nationals is low compared to receipts from inbound tourists, and France therefore runs a surplus on its travel account.

Social Tourism Social tourism represents a very strong movement in France and is significant for French domestic patterns of demand. There was a spectacular growth in social tourism initiatives in the 1960s, and in the late 1990s, the government established a new fund to allow the unemployed and poorer citizens to take a holiday, using spare capacity in the coastal resorts. Examples of social tourism initiatives include: Children’s hostels: colonies des vacances; Family holiday villages: villages vacances familiales (VVF) and Government schemes such as the cheque vacances to boost holiday opportunities for the disadvantaged groups in society.

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