France, beyond Paris: Sheetal Munshaw on the future of Indian travel

A tete a tete with the Director of Atout France, Sheetal Munshaw on its concerted efforts to promote France’s various aspects to a well-travelled audience in India 

By: Riaan George 

 France continues to occupy its position as one of the world’s leading international tourist destinations, with record tourism revenues in recent years, with over 102 million international arrivals in 2025 (Estimate by Atout France), USD 77.5 billion in international spending in 2025 (Banque de France), and the sector contributing nearly 7.5 % towards the national GDP. France’s popularity as a destination grows for India as well. Indians make up a large segment of inbound tourism to France. 

With the recent announcement of the EU-India FTA and the growing interest in wine and gastronomy in India, there is a strong focus on oenotourism with a stronger Indian presence at the B2B showcase Destination Vignobles in October in Cognac.

LuxeBook in a conversation with Sheetal Munshaw, Director for India at Atout France on the evolving relationship between India and France in terms of tourism, the gravitating shift towards luxury tourism and experiential travel in the background of India and France’s formal collaboration in innovation for 2026. 

LuxeBook: It’s the year of India and France’s collaboration. Two governments working together.  What is Atout France doing this year from the point of view of tourism?

Atout France hosted the maiden visit of our Global CEO to Mumbai on the occasion of the Presidential Visit to mark the début of the Indo-French year of Innovation meeting key stakeholders pan India and reiterating our commitment to India as a source market. 

From a tourism perspective, Atout France has largely shifted focus to value over volume for India as a source market. The strategy for the last several years has been to showcase Paris and beyond, inspiring travellers to explore and experience over simply visiting France.  

The emphasis is primarily on premium and experiential travel showcasing hidden gems, discovering unexplored regions and destinations and promoting niche travel segments such as wellness, sports tourism, sustainable travel with a renewed focus on rail holidays, slow travel, cultural experiences such as the Normandy Impressionist Festival or music festivals such as Winter Tomorrowland in Alpes d’Huez. 

We are also introducing a dedicated category for recognition of travel professionals showcasing France as an oenotourism and gastronomy capital for our 2026 edition of the French Ambassador’s Travel Awards.  

Overall, the strategy reflects a shift from ‘visit France as a bucket list item’ to “’xplore the diversity of France – A world in a country’, while using the stronger India–France relationship to deepen tourism, cultural exchange, and premium travel. One such example is also the twinning of the magical medieval city of Carcassonne in France and Jaisalmer in India which will lead to reinforced bilateral relations in the domain of tourism. 

How has outbound tourism to France from India evolved over the last few years?  

Today’s traveller is seeking more immersive experiences such as slow tourism – living and experiencing France and its art de vivre and savoir-faire and not just seeing the destination. For instance, staying in a château instead of a more classic choice, discovering its culinary legacy, cycling tours, partaking in wine harvests, barging in Burgundy or Canal du Midi or skiing in the French Alps. 

Cinema and OTT-inspired experiences and holidays are also trending, alongwith retracing the path of authors and artists, sojourning in spa towns in France to experience wellness and thermal treatments à la française are some of the current traveller inspirations. 

Other experiences include indulging your senses with France’s gastronomic heritage through initiatives such as Vallée de la Gastronomie across Provence, Burgundy and Auvergne Rhone Alpes. From farm-to-fork experiences to bistronomie and cheese trails, wine workshops, chocolate making and baking ateliers or simply sampling delicacies across the country from oysters to lavender honey and everything in between. 

France is also finding favour with well-heeled Indians seeking exclusive shopping experiences from uber luxe brands to more artisanal and local labels. With tastes and preferences becoming more discerning there is renewed interest in France’s legacy of craftsmanship and quiet luxury brands. 

Lesser known in India for its outdoors, the new generation of Indian travellers are exploring France through hiking trails in the Pyrénées, white water rafting, paragliding in Annecy or surfing in Biarritz.  

With the length of stays increasing, Indian travellers are now discovering France’s “Most beautiful Villages”, medieval towns and hamlets. 

Some of the destinations in France gaining recognition in India include Occitanie, Normandy, Alsace, Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy, in addition to the already popular favourites including Paris and its surrounding areas, the French Riviera, the French Alpes, Provence, Monaco to name a few. 

With repeat travellers rediscovering France, they are increasingly looking at more personalised itineraries that resonate with their identities and  France’s regional diversity effortlessly meets that demand without relying solely on its iconic attractions. 

How has Atout France strategised its marketing around digital innovations and platforms? 

As a country that has a compelling offering in terms of versatility and diversity in its tourism offering, that goes well beyond just the hardware and infrastructure but engages its audience through its soft power and its  Art de Vivre, France’s modus operandi in digital marketing needs to be as nuanced and distinct as the brand France itself. 

Our role is to inspire travellers and engage through storytelling, creative and personalised narratives that resonate with the audiences and invite them go beyond the obvious, offbeat experiences, making the transition from discover to deep dive. A very niche segment in India is the weddings and celebrations segment that has been our target audience, and we have been working in close association with wedding planners in this domain. 

One of our flagships has been our foray into AI with MarIAnne - Atout France’s AI-powered travel planner and conversational assistant integrated into the official France tourism portal. It was first rolled out with the redesigned France.fr platform in early 2024. 

Unlike a conventional FAQ chatbot, MarIAnne is an AI itinerary planner that probes through broad interrogations and within seconds, generates a personalised suggested itinerary with destination recommendations, accommodation options, restaurants and activities. Users can then continue refining the plan through a conversational chat interface.  

MarIAnne is available in around 15 languages, and early reports show that MarIAnne generated more than 23,000 recorded user sessions. It helped surface around 126,000 points of interest across France. The initiative complements Atout France’s broader digital strategy, which also includes creator marketing, Instagram and formats such as short-form videos.  

Can we look forward to any updates in terms of India France air connectivity, easier visa procedures or anything at all? 

The connectivity between France and India has been steady and among the most well connected in the European destinations. Since April 2026, Indian passport holders no longer need an Airport Transit Visa (ATV)  when transiting through airports in mainland France. 

As far as the France Schengen visa is concerned, Indian travellers have access to close to 19 VFS centres pan India as well as VAYD (Visa at your doorstep) services making it seamless across the country. Moreover, students have access to the upto 5 year mobility visa as part of the bilateral arrangement (conditions apply) which also has an impact on tourism. Last but not the least France has always had a proactive and tourist friendly disposition in India with an enhanced effort towards longer duration multi entry visas being granted based on traveller profile and a strong collaboration between the Embassy and Consular services and Atout France. 

How is tourism France setting itself apart from other extremely popular destinations like Italy and the UK? 

In a country like India that is fast becoming one of the most prominent source markets for outbound travel as forecasted by multiple credible players(SKIFT, Deloitte) , poised to become fifth global source market, the choices are infinite and not limited to our neighbours. The world is their oyster and with several countries across the globe leveraging offerings around trending themes and traveller segments, France needs to set itself apart on a more global footing. 

While we are still the world leader in tourism visitor numbers, we are not complacent. Our strategy is to use our expertise in-market and enhance our positioning in niche segments including corporate and bleisure travel, weddings and celebrations, high-end holidays for discerning audiences and family friendly offerings for a country that largely travels with multi-generational family groups. We are also making concerted efforts in diversifying the source markets within India and onboarding travel professionals pan India to become France Connaisseurs.  

The luxury segment is a huge focus area with various IPs including France Excellence our dedicated luxury travel showcase launched in November 2025 as well as our association with IFCCI on the luxury symposium or with Business France at Art de Vivre. 

Last but certainly not the least, a huge advantage that France has is its network of Francophones and Francophiles that has a natural affinity for the country and continue to discover and rediscover France due to their strong French connection. 

Are you currently partnering with any other hospitality or tourism players in both India and France to push numbers?  

As Atout France our DNA is partnerships and associations. We are a national tourism board that also has the legal status of a GIE(Groupment d’Intérêt Economique), a very unique public- private entity with a member base of over 1200 stake holders in the travel ecosystem in France. 

Our core strategy is to work in close association with institutional and private players in France and in India to further enhance the positioning of France as an attractive destination. 

These include and are not limited to tourism and hospitality players but a larger ecosystem of the Indo – France landscape such as Business France (our trade commission), IFCCI ( The Indo French Chamber of Commerce), the Comité Colbert, the Embassy of France, CCEF – The French Foreign Trade Advisors, Air France, The Institut Français specifically for culture, student and alumni activations as well as film tourism.  

At a global level, Atout France has recently become the official partner of Ici C’est Paris La Maison in a three year strategic partnership signed in July 2026 with Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to promote France as a tourism destination to international audiences. The partnership centers on “Ici C’est Paris La Maison,” PSG’s experiential event concept that blends football, Parisian culture, French gastronomy, Fashion and French Art de Vivre. 

How is Atout France leveraging the Cannes buzz? 

Cannes as you rightly pointed out already has a very strong brand recognition in India thanks to the celebrity and red carpet Film Festival coverage. It is also a very popular wedding destination for India including some of the most HNWI families having chosen Cannes as their choice of destination.  

As Atout France we are committed to working in close association with the travel professionals to showcase Cannes’ diversity beyond the red carpet as a gateway to the Riviera and also as a year-round destination with its authentic French markets, its islands, yachting, proximity to the “arrière pays” quintessential French countryside in conjunction with Antibes, Nice and Provence.  

Alongside the Provence Tourism Board and the French Riviera Regional Tourist Board we are committed to showcasing the diversity of the Cote d’Azur in winter with mild and temperate winters, sea to ski experiences in close proximity, winter festivals and uber luxe experiences including wellness and gastronomy. 

It is also a playground for corporates from high-end bleisure retreats for organisations such as EO and YPO as well as corporate incentives offering world class convention infrastructure juxtaposed with haute lifestyle leisure and outdoor team building opportunities and prestigious gala and soirée venues making it an exceptional venue.