French government paints a rosy picture for tourism despite unrest

PARIS — The Eiffel Tower, chateaus in the Loire Valley — and cars on fire. Tourists to France faced a new reality during an eruption of nationwide anger following the police killing of 17-year-old Nahel

Merzouk.

While hotel owners cite a drop in bookings in some areas, the French government insisted on Thursday that the overall picture for the tourism industry remains rosy, and promised a “great season” for visitors despite the simmering discontent.

Officials from the Ministry

of Economy and Finance held a meeting Thursday with representatives of the tourism industry to discuss the consequences that the nationwide unrest following Nahel’s death has had on France’s tourist activity and international image.

The fatal shooting sparked anger across

France and stirred up already existing tensions about racial and class-related discrimination in policing, which often targets neighborhoods with low-income families with origins from former French colonies. The violence ebbed this week, but the roots of the ten

Michel Euler/Associated Press Tourists cross the Champs-Elysees avenue with the Arc de Triomphe in the background in Paris.