IFTM Paris focuses on French outbound travel

IFTM Paris focuses on French outbound travel

For me, the IFTM Top Resa travel fair in Paris is like a pre-season training match for a professional football player. There is little pressure and not too much at stake but if gives me a chance to get back into the swing after the summer recess, test the field and get some momentum going to hit the fairground running when WTM kicks off the industry circuit in November.

Like all things French, IFTM it is very… well… French. I don’t mean that in any negative sense at all, “au contraire”, I have great admiration for a country that, in a good year, receives more foreign tourists than any other in the world and still keeps its own identity, its own way of doing things and that charming “je ne sais quoi”. Who am I to question the nation that gave the global hospitality industry so much from the concierge to the bidet.

IFTM is one of the smallest travel fairs on the circuit in square footage and yet it manages to make as much money as any by selling its realty at prices that stubbornly deny economic theories of ROI or even supply and demand. Just as Paris hotels have the smallest rooms and highest prices of almost anywhere in the world, IFTM charges more per square foot than either WTM or ITB. The result, for the visitor, is a convenient and compact place to meet without wearing out the shoes.

This year I was particularly interested to go and see how the French tourism industry is coping after its toughest year for decades. Terror attacks in Paris and Nice, those in neighboring Brussels and many foiled or smaller scale attacks have obviously dented sales but not necessarily confidence. Again, “chapeau” to the French industry for their grim determination not to be bullied. I would even say the show was busier than other years and I guess there is some logic to this.

Inbound tourism to France has undeniably suffered this year but France, and specially Paris, is still a vital hub for travel to, from and around Europe. Routes to Paris are not easy for airlines to secure and it is clear that demand for Paris as a destination will soon bounce back. So, in the meantime, airlines need to keep their planes full by selling tickets for the same return routes but initiating in Paris and not, for example the USA. For each US traveler who has decided not to fly to Paris this year (and by the way the US is the market that is taking the longest to recover confidence in France), then there is an opportunity, indeed a need, to find a an extra European to fly to the US. There are now some great deals on flights from Paris to US, Asia and Africa and remember that Paris also has great connectivity to the rest of Europe. As a result, there is increased interest in promoting international destinations to the French outbound market. In just one day visiting the IFTM’s compact booths I met with many Ministers and top officials from places as far away as the Philippines or Panama, Jamaica or Jerusalem.

As for the regional French DMO’s exhibiting now is the time to finally get the message of regional spread to audiences at home and abroad and particularly to their own national tourism body Atout France. Paris will always be a world-class icon, honey pot and hub but there is so much else in France to satisfy the most demanding international traveller and even the most security conscious.

Chris Pomeroy

Chris Pomeroy

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