Remarks of French PM Manuel Valls with regard to tourism (translated from the French):

"Finally, we are tackling the issue of tourism, and all of you have a role to play.

Let's be clear: the attacks, the image conveyed by strikes, and last spring's demonstrations undermined many of the efforts that had been made, as confirmed by the latest tourism figures.

Against a backdrop of growing competition, we must therefore get to work immediately on regaining lost ground.

I will soon convene an interministerial committee that will establish measures - currently being prepared by Jean-Marc Ayrault and Mathias Fekl - to revive tourism. And I ask you to immediately begin stepping up the number of initiatives in your countries of residence to persuade foreign tourists to return to France.

Promoting France also means demonstrating our ability to host major events.

Euro 2016 offered a spectacular illustration of this, and we have submitted Paris's bid for the 2024 Olympic Games. Here, too, we need everybody's active involvement. Such a bid should motivate the nation as a whole, including you, its representatives, and the French community abroad, who do so much to promote France's assets.

We are also very actively involved in laying the groundwork for France's selection as the site for Expo 2025. Pascal Lamy, to whom I pay tribute, is leading the effort with all the various stakeholders - local governments, the City of Paris, the Greater Paris Region, businesses, the Expofrance association headed by Jean-Christophe Fromantin - to put
forward a unifying project.

These are two major events that will help showcase French know-how; two diplomatic battles that you must wage, because in both cases we must convince 180 nations that France and Paris have the best qualifications. I, for one, need no convincing!"