Paris tourist arrivals down due to terror, but France is still world’s no. 1 destination

Image: AFP Relaxnews

Paris saw a drop of 1.5 million tourists in 2016, as fears linked to terror attacks scared off visitors, especially from China and Japan, figures showed Tuesday.

However, tourist numbers picked up towards the end of the year, suggesting the slump could be easing, regional tourism authority CRT said.

The number of international visitors to the French capital fell almost nine percent in 2016, with numbers from Japan plummeting more than 40 percent and Chinese visitors down by more than 20 percent.

Tourism from European countries was also hit, with visitors from Italy and Russia declining by around a quarter despite the city’s hosting of several matches of the Euro 2016 football championships, including the final.

The visitor figures are based on hotel arrivals.

Major tourist attractions such as the Louvre museum, the Musee d’Orsay and Disneyland Paris saw visits drop between nine and 13 percent.

Visitors from the United States however seemed to be less affected by security concerns, with a drop of just under five percent compared with 2015, representing around 100,000 visitors.

The shortfall cost Paris about 1.3 billion euros ($1 billion), the CRT (France’s Regional Tourism Committee) said.

The body’s president Frederic Valletoux said that an uplift in bookings in November and December “makes us think that things could improve in 2017, even if they are rather weak signs at the moment.”

In November 2015, 130 people were killed in Paris when gunmen and suicide bombers from the Islamic state jihadist group attacked bars, restaurants, a concert hall and the Stade de France national stadium.

That attack came 10 months after two jihadist gunmen shot dead cartoonists and journalists at the Paris offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

Earlier this month, a soldier shot and wounded a machete-wielding Egyptian man who lunged at him outside the Louvre in Paris while shouting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest).

Officials said the attacks had not been the only factor in discouraging visitors to Paris.

Valletoux said that aside from the “exceptional security context,” tourists were also put off by a wave of strikes and protests against the socialist government’s labor market reforms and heavy flooding that hit Paris and surrounding areas in May and June.

Despite the global growth of room-sharing services such as Airbnb, their effect on hotel stays had been “marginal.” according toValletoux.

Figures revealed this month showed that despite fears linked to attacks, France as a whole retained its position as the world’s number one tourist destination last year, with between 82.5 million and 83 million foreign visitors. JB