By Inti Landauro
PARIS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Despite growing animosity between U.S. President Donald Trump's administration and the French government, Americans flocked to the country in 2025, with U.S. visits rising 17% on the previous year, the French tourism ministry said on Thursday.
The jump in U.S. visitors is also notable as it came despite a weaker dollar, with the greenback falling more than 10% against the euro in 2025 after years of a highly beneficial exchange rate for Americans visiting the eurozone.
More than 5 million Americans came to France in 2025, part of a record 102 million foreign tourists during the year, Tourism Minister Serge Papin said. One hundred million foreigners visited in 2024, when Paris hosted the Olympics.
Tourists also spent 9% extra in 2025 - 77.5 billion euros ($91.34 billion) - as they splurged on more upmarket hotels, he said.
"France is a great tourist destination. Let's be proud of it and, above all, let's remain so," Papin said. "France continues to attract, lure and make the entire world dream."
The jump in U.S. tourists suggests many Americans are nonplussed by Trump's worsening relations with Europe.
Since taking office, Trump and his team have escalated trade tension with the EU, threatened to annex Greenland, clashed with European governments over the Russia-Ukraine war and criticised EU digital regulation.
It remains to be seen if the U.S. visitor surge will continue.
The European Travel Commission said on Wednesday it expected U.S. visits to the continent to drop in 2026, in what would be the first sign of a slowdown in the post-pandemic boom in American travel to Europe, driven by a strong U.S. dollar and economic resilience in North America.
The commission said it expected the fall in U.S. visitors to be compensated by a rise in Chinese and Indian tourists who should push up international arrivals by 6.2% in 2026.
The French tourism ministry said early 2026 flight booking data from countries such as Mexico and China was encouraging, but did not disclose comparable U.S. data.
($1=0.8485 euros)
(Reporting by Inti Landauro; Additional reporting by Corina Pons and Joanna Plucinska; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
