the government seeks to bring Chinese travelers back to France

Gabriel Attal brings together a tourism committee on Tuesday to support the sector in the run-up to the Olympic Games. He also wants to bring back Chinese tourists and for this, the Prime Minister will relax the granting of visas.

The relaxation of the granting of visas will be one of Gabriel Attal’s announcements on Tuesday May 7, and it is no coincidence that it comes at the time when Emmanuel Macron receives Xi Jinping. Visa processing is one of the sticking points between China and France. To come to France, the Chinese must request one, and since Covid, processing times have lengthened significantly: a month and a half on average. The French government is therefore committed to reducing this deadline to a few days.

Target tourists as well as businessmen and women

It will strengthen its consular staff and open around fifteen visa application centers in China. The government will simplify files, particularly for groups of Chinese tourists, who will go through so-called trusted travel agencies.

To bring Chinese business customers back to France, France will also test next year a “fast track” system, that is to say a fast lane, a sort of VIP consular access . Business women and men who often come to France will be able to enter and leave the territory without having to apply for a visa each time.

All these measures are all the more important in the eyes of the Chinese as, for their part, to attract Western visitors and particularly the French, they have abolished visas for short trips.

No full reciprocity

On this point, France does not intend to be in total reciprocity, because it wants to control Chinese immigration. Paris undertakes to be more flexible. But at the same time, we are wary of foreign interference, and especially of espionage. For this, the government says it is instead banking on the prudence of French companies, which it is also raising awareness of.

In fact, it is not simple because at the same time, there is no question of depriving oneself of the financial windfall represented by Chinese travelers in France. In 2019, before Covid, nearly two million Chinese came to France each year, and they alone spent more than 3.5 billion euros in France. Today, there are four times fewer Chinese tourists, and we are at around a billion euros in revenue. A shortfall for our hotel and catering industry, our luxury brands, which France hopes to quickly recover.