This is the period not to be missed for tourism professionals in France. But the month of July started in a singular way for restaurateurs, hoteliers and other players in this sector which weighs heavily on the economy of France, with urban violence in several cities of the country punctuated by looting and degradation in all gender. What tarnish the image of France, and darken the tourist horizon despite a weather well and truly at the rendezvous? “There is a real risk,” alarmed AFP the boss of the Paris Tourist Office, Jean-François Rial, also CEO of the Voyageurs du Monde group.
“Today in Paris, with the violence, we already have thousands of cancellations, he believes. At the beginning of July, I think that we are already around 20-25% of cancellations in Paris on international customers and I would not be surprised if these are the same figures for the whole of France. For American customers, it’s more like 15% cancellations in Paris – tourism in France is apparently “helped” by the Canadian fires and the strikes in the United States…” “There was a starting effect at the time events, reports for his part the assistant to tourism of Marseille Laurent Lhardit. The president of the Umih of Bouches-du-Rhône announced the figure of 30% cancellations in Marseille. There was an immediate effect and there may still be a lag effect. “We had cancellations and a very strong decline linked to the cancellation of events like the Acontraluz festival, continues Maxime Tissot, general manager of the Marseille tourist office. It is true that the further away the clientele is, the more worried they are. »
“No indicator of depression”
However, elected officials and professionals in the sector want to be confident while the lull seems to be in order at the time these lines are written. “There is no sign or indicator of depression, rejoices Laurent Lhardit. Last year, the number of foreign visitors was equivalent to the number of French tourists, and today we see that foreign reservations are still on the rise, so that they could become the majority. “We have asked for studies and for the moment we are not seeing a drop in reservations in the coming weeks”, agrees Maxime Tissot, who however notes a need to “communicate” on the part of France’s tourist promotion tools as an asset France.
Message it seems received to the highest peak of the state, where the watchword is to appease the possible anxieties of tourists. In an interview granted this Tuesday to CNN, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire wanted to be reassuring. “This will have no impact on French growth, on French attractiveness or on French tourism”, hammered the minister, in English in the text. “The French economy is solid, the daily life of French citizens is not threatened by what happened”, Le Maire. “We are returning to a calmer situation,” he said. A sort of French variation of the famous: “Keep calm and carry on…”