TORONTO — The Destination France 2024 tour, featuring 23 French and local exhibitors, had a successful outing last night in Toronto at the Sheraton Centre Hotel.

More than 80 travel advisors turned out for the event, which featured a detailed presentation on France’s Occitanie region, workshop and networking opportunities, a cocktail hour and an awards ceremony with door prizes.

The Consul General of France in Toronto, Mr. Bertrand Pous, was on hand at the event to meet and greet with exhibitors and travel professionals.

The Occitanie delegation with winner Ismael Tan from Centre Holidays

Destination France 2024 showcased the many major events taking place in France this year, including …

• The 150th anniversary of Impressionism (Paris, Normandy)
• The 80th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy (Normandy)
• Olympic and Paralympic Games (all of France)
• The reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Dec. 8 
  

  Melanie Paul-Hus, Director, Atout France Canada

Atout France is a key player in achieving the ambitious objectives of the Destination France Plan, which was launched by the French President. In addition to the redesign of the Distinction Palace, the renewal of Atout France’s websites (B2B and B2C) and its brand, the agency has teamed up with Netflix (France) for an image campaign linked to television productions shot in France.

After an overall prolific year in 2023, Mélanie Paul-Hus, Director of Atout France’s Canadian office, thanked the industry for its enthusiasm for Destination France’s projects, and for having contributed to a vigorous recovery in Ontario and across Canada for the marketing of French destinations.

Air Canada, the official airline partner of the roadshow, promoted its direct seasonal winter service from Toronto to Fort-de-France, Martinique, as well as its seasonal summer Montreal-Nice service, year-long Montreal-Toulouse and Toronto-Paris and the restart

of the Montreal-Lyon flights. New air-rail connections in France, thanks to the collaboration with SNCF and its subcontractor AccessRail provide access to itineraries combining flight and train throughout France.

Air Canada’s Yazdan Bakhtiary, Manager Regional Sales – Toronto, spoke of Air Canada’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality in all its operations by 2050. Bakhtiary also highlighted ACV’s France vacation packages.

An extensive presentation by the Occitanie region included its five partners: Toulouse airport, Carcassonne Patrimoine Mondial, Destination Pyrénées, Uzès Tourism office and Cité Hôtels Groupe.

Later in the evening, the Destination France 2024 Product of the Year award was presented to Patricia Fargeon, President of Planet France, who won return flights to France with Air Canada.

The Atout France team and its partners now head to Calgary and Vancouver to meet up with tourism professionals from Western Canada.

More information about the Destination France 2024 roadshow, including a full list of partners, can be found at: https://www.destinationfrance.ca/en/page/accueil/

ACV’s Bruce Parkinson; Melanie Paul-Hus, Atout France Canada; Patricia Fargeon, President of Planet France and winner of the Product of the Year Destination France; Côte d’Azur’s Manuel Harbreteau; and Air Canada’s Yazdan Bakhtiary