Paris tourism at 10-year high after post-terrorism dip

Visitors are flocking back to the capital, with hotel visits up 12,5% in the first trimester of 2017, compared to 2016, and Russian and Japanese visitors especially boosting the numbers, according to the Paris Office of Tourism.

“For the first trimester of 2017, Greater Paris has seen the best first four months of the year on record, for at least 10 years,” said the Mairie (town hall) of Paris in a press release, as reported by French news source France3.

Overseas visitors were up 16% compared to 2016, and French tourist numbers up 9,9%.

Visitors from Japan have soared by 62% this year, alongside Russian tourists (up 51%) and Chinese visitors (up 40%), versus the same time in 2016.

Business visitors are also on a high, with 11,2% more hotel rooms booked for business in the first trimester of 2017 compared to 2016.

The Mairie added that the figures were “very encouraging” and showed that the tourism sector’s €8m injection to boost visits, following the severe drop after the terrorism of November 2015, had “borne fruit”.