The number of tourists visiting Paris has drastically decreased after a series of terrorist attacks, strikes and floods this year, resulting in approximately €750 million lost revenue.
Paris welcomes 16 million visitors each year, however between January and June there were a million less visitors compared to the same period in 2015, reports the BBC. France's tourism industry generates more than 7% of its annual gross domestic product, meaning that this drop in tourism numbers is "an industrial disaster", according to one senior official.
Tourist board figures for the Ile-de-France region, which has around 500,000 jobs linked to tourism, show that nightly hotel stays there were down by 8.5 per cent and that there has been a 11.5 per cent decline in foreign tourists, in particular those from Japan, Russia and China.
Paris region tourist board head Frederic Valletoux said: "This is no longer the time for communication campaigns but to set up a relief plan", adding that major investment was needed to protect jobs in the tourism sector.
Ile-de-France regional President Valerie Pecresse added that Paris must understand the other reasons for why tourists are spending less time there compared to London and ultimately "improve the quality of our offer".
