France is the most visited country in the world, with nearly 85 million foreign visitors previous year, including 16 million in Paris, according to the global tourism index. The majority of the deaths occurred inside the Bataclan music venue where three extremists killed 89 people during an Eagles of Death metal concert.
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Strikes and floods have also played a part, with tourism across the whole of France down by 7%.
A soldier stands guard at the Eiffel Tower, Paris, November 15, 2015.
Paris, the most visited city in the world, has lost 750 million Euros in the tourist sector in the second semester of 2016, alarming local authorities.
“It’s time to realise that the tourism sector is going through an industrial disaster”. This industry is on its knees and it needs relief measures now. Wealthier tourists were staying away in even greater numbers, with high-end hotels reporting of declines of between 30-40 percent. The sector accounts for around 9% of its gross domestic product (GDP). France’s latest attack, saw 84 people killed in Nice on Bastille Day, 14 July.
In Paris, on 15 November previous year, 130 people were massacred by gunmen and suicide bombers hit a concert hall, a stadium, restaurants and bars, nearly at the same the same time.
Japanese visitors were down 46.2 per cent in the first half compared with the same period in 2015, followed by Russians down 35 per cent and Chinese down 19.6 per cent, the Paris region tourist board statement said. Russian numbers were down by more than a third and Chinese by nearly a fifth.
“The Nice attack derailed our hopes of a recovery”. Air France-KLM has said it expects its unit revenues to decline in July and August, partly due to the situation in France.
Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has called a meeting for early September to find ways to revive tourism, which represents about 7% of the French economy.
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“This is no longer the time for communication campaigns but to set up a relief plan”, he said.
