The Structure of Tourist Flows in Metropolitan France: Perspectives on Territorial Attractiveness

If territorial attractiveness appears today as a central concern in local development policies, it is often considered in regard with the location of companies. However, with the increase of spatial mobility and spare time, local economies are also affected by the location of populations, including the temporary presence of tourists. This paper aims at evaluating the attractiveness of French areas as regards tourist flows in order to highlight the importance of the management of those flows for local economies. For this purpose, we will study the spatial structure of these flows, first focussing on French tourist flows before integrating foreign ones.