法國外長:中國赴法團體遊客有望當日就獲得簽證

France is to shorten visa delivery processes for Chinese tourist groups to one day from the current two as Paris targets a larger slice of a growing market, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said today.

法國外交部長洛朗·法比尤斯今天表示，爲了從日益增長的旅遊市場中分得一杯羹，將對中國團體遊客赴法旅遊的簽證時限從原來的兩天縮短至一天。

France received some 1.5 million Chinese tourists in 2014, the latest available figures, showing it had edged Italy as the most popular long-haul destination for travellers from China.

最新數據顯示，法國在2014年接待了約150萬中國遊客，取代意大利成爲最受中國遊客喜愛的長途旅行目的地。

To attract even greater numbers Paris announced in January 2014 it would be cutting the time to process a visa from around ten days to just 48 hours, in line with similar moves in neighbouring countries.

爲了吸引更多中國遊客，法國政府於2014年1月已經將簽證發放期限從原來的十天左右縮短至48小時。這一舉動也是爲了於鄰國保持同步。

Fabius told reporters he expected "to be able to announce very soon a move to 24-hour processing in China for tourist groups who come to France."

法比尤斯告訴記者，他期望着“能夠很快宣佈這一隻需花費一天的、有利中國到法旅遊團的政策。”

He added that processing times would also be cut to 48 hours, notably for tourists from Indonesia, Turkey, Georgia, Vietnam and Armenia, in line with existing waiting times for India, the Gulf States and South Africa.

此外，法比尤斯還宣佈，對來自印尼、土耳其、格魯吉亞、越南以及亞美尼亞遊客的旅遊簽證時間將縮短至48小時。法國此前已對印度、南非及海灣國家實行48小時簽證。