Due to bomb threats: France fears for its tourism due to bomb threats

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At the start of the autumn holidays, the chairman of the hotel and restaurant association (UMIH) in the Greater Paris region, Franck Delvau, reported to the broadcaster France Info that there had been a ten percent increase in the number of cancellations. Tourists are postponing their trips for fear of further warnings, he warned. In addition to hotels, taxi drivers also recorded a slight decrease in customer base. “This puts the tourism sector at risk,” and the fearful climate is not good for the sector.

In recent days, thousands of tourists have been affected by flights canceled at regional airports due to bomb threats or having to cancel their visits to the Palace of Versailles or the Louvre. ‘People are fed up. We are already seeing bookings being cancelled,” says the mayor of Versailles, François de Mazières. “We are concerned. If you come from abroad and arrive in a week, you don’t want to take any risks.” The Palace of Versailles had to be evacuated five times and a suspect for the ultimately empty threats has now been identified.

Parisian hotel operator Didier Castel, contacted by broadcaster BFMTV, reports a number of cancellations. “Since the beginning of the week, we have lost 15 percent of our bookings by the end of the month. Almost all of them were bookings from abroad.” The Ministry of Tourism announced that there could be no question of a wave of cancellations and that there was no need to resort to one. From the perspective of tourism experts, fewer long-distance travelers from the US or Asia are canceling trips they have long booked. Holidaymakers from neighboring countries such as Belgium or Germany could cancel a planned short trip for fear of disruption.

Some also see France’s reputation as a tourist destination at risk ahead of next summer’s Olympic Games. The nationwide excitement over the spread of bedbugs, which the government quickly took into action and sent waves abroad, has only just subsided.

Bomb threats have increased since a young Islamist’s deadly attack on a teacher in Arras a week ago, which seriously shocked France. The country’s highest terror alert level was subsequently imposed. Many of the threats also affect schools and in many cases authorities have already identified young people as responsible. As the police announced, videos of the school evictions were shared millions of times on social networks. However, given the tense security situation in the country, any threat is taken extremely seriously.

(SDA)

Source: Blick