France was a member of the UNWTO Executive Council until 2023. They did not present their candidature for re-election for 2023-2027

Ex-officio member of the Committee on Statistics

Entrepreneurship & digital transformation

(Match: One of the concrete measures stated in the policy for developing the tourism sector of France is “Support for digitization and information sharing, in order to make the sector more competitive”).

• UNWTO Startup Competitions - France has been a key source market for mature startups. It has contributed to 7 of the most significant startups identified by UNWTO. As of today, it has a pull of 9 solutions with top innovators (finalists and winners). It represents 3% of the total innovators.
• Introduce the Innovation Hubs Network worldwide Potential to collaborate on the advancement of SDGs through innovation
• Organization of Masterclasses focused on digital skills, such as Amadeus (Better data analysis for better decision-making).

Enhancement of key tourism segments & promotion

(Match: Another concrete measure of the policy is “Structuring of the tourist offer, in order to attract growing numbers of international tourists”).

• Segments of Interest: Tourism and Sustainability, local and rural tourism, new tourism choices, and cultural heritage. Possible collaboration in the enhancement of its tourism segments of interest through capacity-building activities and exchange of best practices with other destinations.
• UNWTO.Academy: Organization of dedicated trainings on efficient promotion and marketing of destinations for destinations officials/Assist destinations on the development of marketing & promotion strategy of destinations.
• Support the promotion of French destinations through the organization of a Google Masterclass on improving the promotion of destinations through Google & use of Google Analytics.
• UNWTO Rural Tourism Development Programme - Best Tourism Villages of the World: International Label; Tourism Villages Upgrade Programme; Best Tourism Villages Network

Investments

(Match: Concrete Measure number 3 in the policy is: “State support for investment, a fundamental component of the Government’s strategy. Also, initial measures to reinforce the attractiveness of French tourism destinations are new maintenance plans for motorways; and new investment plans for seaside and mountain resorts)

• Organization of Global Tourism Investment Forum, aiming at assisting Member States in attracting investments and fostering entrepreneurship.
• UNWTO & fDi intelligence from the Financial Times - UNWTO Members can have limited access to world-class digital investment platforms at no cost 

Education & Training for Better Service Offer

(Match: As stated in the policy for developing the French tourism sector, Training, and employment are both key to ensuring the quality of the service offered).

• Support through the UNWTO.Academy: UNWTO can assist the country in the development of tourism educational programmes (i.e. curricula), along with the delivery of tailored-made training (I.e., training for officials).
• Training: Explore the possibility to organize tailored-made training on the elaboration of a tourism strategy, development of tourism products, marketing strategy, and promotion, etc. 
• UNWTO organizes in December 2023 (Salamanca) together with the University of la Sorbonne (France) the 1st Academic Conference on the International Code for the Protection of Tourists “Restoring Tourists ‘Trust)
• One Planet Sustainable Tourism Programme (France was co-lead until December 2022)
  • Global Tourism Plastic Initiative
  • Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism
  • COVID-19 Responsible Tourism Recovery
• Global Tourism Plastics initiative (led by UNWTO, UN Environment, and the government of France in collaboration with Ellen MacArthur Foundation). The signatories recognize the urgency to collaborate to reduce plastic pollution. Together they represent around 180,000 employees and 50 million holidaymakers.

New Tourism Policy “Destination France” (2023-2026) - Five Main Priorities:

1. Strengthen the attractiveness of tourism professions
2. Support resilience and upscale.
3. Enhance and develop France’s assets.
4. Address the challenges of the sector’s transformation.
5. Promote the Destination France and consolidate its market share.