Violence sets back global tourism
PARIS: Fresh violence in the streets of Paris and bomb threats against Air France flights have rattled the global tourism industry, with travellers from wealthy Asian nations thinking twice about trips to Europe.
Tour operators cancelled package trips and some predicted a further slowdown in bookings as jittery travellers held off on immediate plans or decided to go elsewhere.
Some big-spending Chinese tourists were shunning Paris for now and opting instead to visit Germany and other European cities in the wake of the second major attack this year on the French capital. Some Chinese visiting Paris last weekend swiftly diverted to Switzerland, said Jane Chen at travel firm Ctrip in Shanghai.
More than 2 million Chinese were expected to visit France, the world’s leading tourist destination, this year, according to Chinese state media citing the country’s ambassador to France. For Japanese, France is the 12th most popular travel destination.
The likely blip in foreign arrivals will further pressure the French economy, particularly if tourist unease lasts through the Christmas season. Tourism generates more than 7% of annual GDP, with Paris alone drawing in 32.2 million visitors last year.
“I still want to go to Paris, but after this incident I won’t go within a year,” said Vickie Zheng, a 27-year-old estate agent in Shanghai.
An employee at CITIC Tourism in Beijing said business related to France was expected to remain “sluggish”.
Among Asian airlines operating regular flights to the French capital, a spokesman for South Korea’s Asiana Airlines said it stepped up security for Paris flights.
“Our passengers are really concerned about the attacks in Paris,” added K W Nieh, of Taiwan’s Eva Airways, noting a rush of cancellations following Friday’s attacks in Paris. “On Sunday alone, we had 50 cancellations out of 300 bookings.”
Several airlines, such as Air China and Singapore Airlines, waived cancellation fees for those booked on flights to Paris in the coming days or weeks. – Reuters