France’s next revolution?

THE recent terror attacks in Paris, in which 129 people lost their lives, are likely to impact tourism in the short to medium term.

Paris is the world’s fifth-largest city for international arrivals. The latest data shows that the city, with 15 million visitors in 2014, was already losing out to rivals such as London and Barcelona, with a dip of 2% on 2013.

Paris’s best markets are the US and UK, which were already in decline before November 13, and the worsening security situation will deter visitors. Paris is also one of the world’s top shopping destinations, and it was heavily hit by the fall in Russian visitors in 2014/2015 due to the Ukraine crisis and Russian recession.

However, Paris accounts for just 18% of France’s total arrivals — 15 million vs 84 million in 2014 — so although there may be a slight slowdown as a whole in the coming months, Euromonitor International does not expect the country to witness a decline in 2015 or 2016, as tourism is very much integrated into every region of the country.

Following the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January, the government was swift to insist that security was paramount. Those attacks did not lead to a decline in tourism.

In addition to a co-ordinated political and military response by the government, the French travel industry needs to work together to ensure crisis-management systems are in place and also send a clear message to the rest of the world that Paris is open for business. Paris should also work to find ways to drive leisure tourism in the short term and promote the ideals that France stands for — liberté, egalité and fraternité.

The sharing economy would be a good place to kick-start a campaign involving residents and visitors that shows solidarity.