Marina Ferrari, a member of parliament for Savoy (MoDem) and former Secretary of State for Digital Affairs in the government of Gabriel Attal, was appointed on Saturday 21 September as Minister Delegate in charge of the tourism economy.
A minister responsible solely for this sector? This is a signal from Barnier’s government that will be very well received by this ecosystem. It must be said that seventeen years ago (2007) tourism, which represents 7% of the country’s GDP, did not have a minister entirely dedicated to it. In recent years, it has appeared as an item in the portfolio, alongside consumption, French residents abroad, SMEs, etc.
This is a sign of a desire to capitalise on the Olympic Games, which have played a role as a tourist showcase for France and whose impact will probably last for several years. It is also a form of recognition, as the sector is heading towards a historic year in France: the figure of 100 million foreign visitors is expected and 68 billion euros of international revenue is expected. A record.
At 50, Marina Ferrari from Savoyardia, Michel Barnier’s homeland, is no stranger to this environment: she is the author of a parliamentary report on the need to renovate ski resorts. A knowledge of these issues that will serve her well as the future of skiing is questioned, affected by climate change and rising prices, and the prospect of the 2030 Olympic Games in the Alps shakes up the entire ecosystem.
The challenge of recruitment
The new minister has a delicate file on his desk: that of Atout France, the state agency responsible for promoting tourism, whose operation and positioning must be reviewed and whose director must be appointed. The possibility of a merger with Business France, the attraction agency supervised by Bercy, is a hypothesis.
Other challenges in tourism include recruitment difficulties in a sector characterised by low wages and atypical working conditions. M.me Ferrari’s Olivia Grégoire had tried to promote these careers even further, with the “Tourism Careers Week” organised in 2023 and 2024. The inclusion of hospitality and catering professions in the national list of professions is under tension, in order to recruit more foreigners easily, it is also eagerly awaited by employers.
Other files left by his predecessor: the creation of the compensation commission for traders affected by the Paris 2024 Olympic Games; the deployment of a strategy for managing tourist flows, announced in 2023, or the continuation of initiatives to support start-ups in the sector (“Travel Tech”).
