PARIS, France (AFP) — After two years during which Paris was scarred by terror attacks, tourists returned to the French capital in record numbers in 2017, hotel booking figures showed Thursday.
Hotels in the Paris area received 2.9 million more foreign and French visitors compared to 2016, an increase of 9.5 percent that added 1.6 billion euros ($2 billion) to the sector’s coffers, the tourism committee for the Paris region said.
“Tourism rebounded in spectacular fashion,” the committee said in its annual report.
The recovery was particularly significant among overseas visitors, whose numbers rose 13.7 percent over the year, compared to 5.9 percent for French tourists.
Chinese, Japanese, American and German tourists all returned in large numbers to the City of Light, showing the effects of the attacks of November 2015 had largely worn off, the committee said.
The US continues to account for the largest share of foreign tourists in Paris, with 2.4 million visitors, ahead of China’s 1.1 million.
© Agence France-Presse
