Paris Region Loses €15.5 billion In Tourism Slump

Paris Region Loses €15.5 billion In Tourism Slump.

TRAVEL restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic have left Paris with only a fraction of its usual tourists. It is estimated that the slump has cost the French capital and its surrounding region over €15 billion in lost income.

According to a new report, 33.1 million fewer tourists visited Paris last year causing tourism revenues to fall dramatically. The Regional Tourism Committee of Paris Ile-de-France released the figures on Monday, calling them a “historic drop.”

In total, only 17.5 million tourists visited Paris and the surrounding areas, a disappointing number given that the country was not under lockdown for most of the summer and the early fall seasons.

Still, international travel was largely blocked, with some brief reprieves for visitors from other European nations. Instead, the bulk of those visitors, 12.6 million, were French. Hotel stays dropped 78 per cent for international visitors and 56 per cent for French tourists.

Not surprisingly, many of Paris’ most popular tourist attractions also suffered. The Louvre museum for example saw attendance fall 72 per cent in 2020 while visitors to Versailles fell 76 per cent.

The Paris region is now under a new lockdown as Covid cases soar, driven by variants. There are growing rumours that President Emmanuel Macron may impose a third national lockdown this week even as the nation’s vaccine campaign gathers momentum.

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