Morocco is very popular with the French. A truth which has just been confirmed by
SEMrush, trusted data provider, which has analyzed French and global summer destinations favorites of the French between June and August 2018, reports Quotidien du Tourisme.
In the top 3 of the most searched countries on Google, Morocco is a great success: Kingdom ranks first with 1.7M requests, followed by Algeria and Tunisia with 1.4M and 1.2M requests respectively this summer.
In 4th position comes Canada, a very popular destination for young French people with more than 1.1M requests. Croatia, whose tourism has been booming over the last 5 years, ranks 5th in the top countries with 1.1M requests. Portugal, the second European country in this top 10, closes the ranking with 700k searches.
Between these two European destinations, the French are looking to unwind overseas: Martinique and Guadeloupe, respectively in 6th and 7th position (1M and 800k requests).
For more distant destinations, Thailand is experiencing great popularity this summer with 760k requests. As for Cuba, which has opened up to mass tourism, the island with impassable borders recorded 730k requests in the summer of 2018.
Large European capitals attract crowds
For some tourists, Spain is a balance between land and sea with Barcelona, the most searched city on Google with 135k searches, and Malaga, 3rd in the ranking, with 90k searches. Amsterdam (110k requests), the birthplace of Van Gogh, comes in 2nd position.
Lisbon, tied with Malaga, generates 90k requests, followed by London and Rome, neck and neck, with 74k requests for summer 2018.
For those who wish to leave the old Continent: Montreal, known for its famous poutine, is the first non-European city in the top 10 with 49k searches. It is followed by Bangkok (33k requests), the only Asian city in the ranking. Finally, with 18k requests, the city of Athens closes the ranking.
The French also like to play at home
Paris remains at the heart of tourist attraction. The City of Light alone generates 600,000 requests, followed by Marseille which receives half, or 300,000 requests.
The French mainly prefer the south: the cities of Bordeaux, Montpellier, Toulouse and Lyon are tied with an average of 246k requests.
In smaller cities, with a volume of 200,000 searches, we find Rennes, followed by Strasbourg and the Venice of the Alps, Annecy with 165k requests each.
