TOULOUSE — Between the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the 150th anniversary of Impressionism and the long-awaited reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, the year 2024 is full of events for travellers heading to France.
It was in this context that the 17th edition of Rendez-vous en France was held in Toulouse, capital of the Occitanie region.
The Occitanie region helped organize the 17th edition of Rendez-vous en France, held at the Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Center (all photos courtesy Malik Cocherel)
Over two days, some 635 French exhibitors met with tour operators from around the world, resulting in more than 26,000 business meetings at the Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Center (MEETT).
And Canada was very well represented, with 26 agents and advisors.
“It’s a little more than last year,” said Mélanie Paul-Hus, Atout France’s Director, Canada, in an interview with Profession Voyages (part of The Travelweek Group).
Paul-Hus said she was pleased to see new-to-the-event Canadian tour operators taking part this year. “The Rendez-vous are a fantastic way for us to present to them the potential of France,” she said.
‘FRANCE CONNAISSEUR’ ONLINE LEARNING
Mélanie Paul-Hus and Patricia McFarlane
This year, it was the world capital of aeronautics that welcomed Rendez-vous en France attendees. To salute the rich history linking the city of Toulouse, birthplace of Airbus, to the aviation industry, 900 guests were invited to the Aeroscopia Museum for a grand dinner held under the wings of such legendary aircraft as the Concorde and the Airbus A300.
This gala was also an opportunity to reward Montrealer Patricia McFarlane of Exotik Tours, part of TravelBrands, for her participation in France Connaisseur, the online learning program launched by Atout France last year.
“We have 300 registered learners and already more than 70 Canadian professionals who are certified, even though it has barely been a year since the program was launched in Canada,” said Paul-Hus.
At the beginning of May, a new expert module on responsible tourism will be added to France Connaisseur. “Until now we’ve mainly had introductory modules,” said Paul-Hus. “But we will soon add other modules and incentives, with certification levels.”
2024 OLYMPIC GAMES
With the Paris 2024 Olympic Games fast approaching, the spotlight will be on France more than ever in the coming months. Paul-Hus noted that Canada is in the six markets with the most searches for the French destination during the weeks of the Games and Paralympics, “which is a good sign. Especially since air booking trends are excellent.”
France intends to take advantage of the Olympic Games to further strengthen its place on the top step of the podium of the most visited countries in the world.
“These Games will be a magnificent postcard,” added Paul-Hus. “We think this will create unprecedented enthusiasm for France. So I hope our operators are ready for the fall and for the year 2025.”
REOPENING OF NOTRE-DAME CATHEDRAL
Another highly anticipated event, the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral, scheduled for the end of the year, also has a good chance of attracting plenty more visitors to the French capital.
Invited to the Rendez-vous in France to give news of the restoration of the building, the secretary general of the cathedral, Olivier Josse of the diocese of Paris, said he expects 15 million visitors for 2025. That’s three million more than in 2018, before the infamous fire.
A little more than five years after this disaster, which created an immense wave of emotion throughout the world, Notre-Dame will once again open its doors to the public on Dec. 9, 2024.
“Tourists, and of course the faithful, will be able to return to discover Notre-Dame cleaned and renovated,” said Caroline Leboucher, General Director of Atout France. “This will really be a special year for France.”
“France is going to be the place to be in 2024,” said Caroline Leboucher, general director of Atout France
80TH ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY
The celebrations of the 80th anniversary of D-Day also promise to have a great impact. “We are going to welcome the last veterans of World War II, including Canadians,” said Leboucher.
“It is always a very moving moment for them, as well as for their families, when they come to the landing beaches in Normandy. There will be a whole month of festivities on this occasion.”
Rounding out all of these announcements, this year’s Rendezvous en France attendees had a chance to gather for a festive evening at the Victor Hugo Market, in the heart of Toulouse.
For the occasion, traders from the oldest market in France opened their stalls to 1,900 guests for a great tasting of local specialties and wines from 16 French vineyards. Enough to properly celebrate ‘La Ville Rose’ and stock up on good memories, while waiting for the next Rendez-vous en France, which will be held in Lyon in 2025, and in Nice in 2026.
The 80th anniversary of D-Day is one of the major events for the coming months in France
For more information on the France Connaisseur program, click here.
This story originally ran at Profession Voyages, part of The Travelweek Group