The Abbey of Fontenay in Cyrano de Bergerac, the Louvre in Da Vinci Code, Provence in Manon des Sources and Jean de Florette, Montmatre in Amélie or Versailles in Marie Antoinette … so many films and so much make-believe. So many places too, etched into our memories and our dreams by the magic ofthe seventh art.
Without doubt, film is a huge invitation to travel. It breathes new life into places and historical monuments which are then revealed to us in an intriguing and captivating light making us want to go out and find them. In France, two thirds of foreign tourists say that they have been influenced  throughseeing a film and many French are just the same.
At a time when the French film market is at its highest level ever and the French level of production is the highest in Europe and third globally after the United States and India, cinema is hugely influential in attracting people to our country.
It is in this context that France has come up with a new tax incentive to encourage foreign films to be made in France.The fact still remains that the links between the general public and the places discovered through film are, as yet, too unstable and the exchange between tourism and cinema, delicate.
ODIT France and the National Film Commission – Film France, have also decided to publish a practical guide to strengthen the links between these two sectors which will also contribute to developing the impact of cinema on regional life. Based on experiences in France and abroad, this work sheds a new light on the seventh art and its rapport with our culture and heritage.
It’s aim is to encourage those in public and private sectors of the tourism and audiovisual industries to resolutely believe in this way forward for the future.