11/ Why is France the most popular tourist destination in the world?
With 82 million foreign tourists in 2007, France continues to be the world’s number one tourist destination, way ahead of Spain (60 million), the United States, China and Italy.
Three quarters of tourists coming to France are European. The British come top, ahead of the Germans. There have also been significantly more visitors from Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Eastern Europe. The number of Chinese tourists has risen sharply to nearly 600,000.
Among France’s cultural attractions, the Louvre is the biggest crowd puller (7.6 million visitors), then the Eiffel Tower (6.4 million), Pompidou Centre (5.3 million) and Versailles (3.3 million). Outside Paris, the Puy du Fou theme park and Mont Saint-Michel are the most popular.
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