France receives some 84 million tourists every year who contribute 7% to the nation’s wealth and support two million jobs.
Since the 1980s, the country has been the most visited in the world.
But a recent report by a French tourism agency showed that it has earned a reputation for being unfriendly and overpriced.
Now a multimillion-euro investment will be made in tourism with the aim of making visitors feel welcomed and increasing the number of tourists to 100 million by 2020.
Foreign minister Laurent Fabius said that the fund would be launched this autumn. "Tourism is a national treasure that needs to be protected, nurtured and developed – that's the aim of all these measures," he said.
The report recognised that France’s welcome “is below par”.
Referring to a French "paradox", the report said: "The country is considered a must-see destination where expectations are high … but satisfaction ratings are 30% below the European average in terms of price-quality ratio."
Visitors using TripAdvisor voted Paris the rudest city in Europe, while other research has indicated that visitors thought it had the least friendly locals, the most unpleasant taxi drivers and the most aggressive waiters.
It is not the first time the locals have been encouraged to be more friendly to guests. But Mr Fabius said new measures would go further than previous efforts and would include fast-track visas and welcome signs in airports and rail stations.
A recent World Economic Forum report ranked countries with the friendliest welcome: Iceland, New Zealand, Morocco, Macedonia and Austria with Portugal also ranking high.
