Tourism update: Paris is back on track

Tourism professionals in Paris can rejoice: according to figures published by the Paris Ile-de-France Regional Tourism Committee (CRT), over the first six months of 2018, hotel arrivals in the capital increased by 4.1 % compared to last year, which was already quite good.

This record is largely due to the influx of foreign travelers, notes the CRT, even though the boom of tourists from Asia has dried up. “Terrorist attacks, theft, and stories of open hostility to Chinese tourists” have cooled this customer base, the South China Morning Post estimates. “Even if the luxury, romance, and art de vivre of the French capital still attracts them.”

Railway and public transport strikes, as well as a day and a half of closure at the beginning of August at the Eiffel Tower, a major worldwide tourist attraction, did not discourage tourists from other countries though. The drop in tourism following the attacks in 2015 now seems like a distant memory.

Data regarding tourist traffic at the Eiffel Tower for 2018 is compiled only at the end of the year, however numbers thus far seem to hint at the possibility of an all-time high attendance record.  6.2 million visitors were reported in 2017.

(As reported by Courrier international, “Paris a de nouveau le vent en poupe”.  Photo Credit: WikiCommons)