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Tourist numbers in Paris doing well for the first sx months of 2018




Le Parisien newspaper reports the tourist numbers in Paris for the first six months of this year. It reports that there were 700,000 more tourists for the first six months of 2018 than there were for the same period in 2017, which is an increase of 4.1%. So far, for the first 6 months of 2018, there has been 17.1 million tourists in total in Paris.

On Monday, the Ile-de-France region (Paris) delivered its tourist numbers. The Château de Versailles (Versailles Palace – The Sun King Palace) had an "absolute record" for tourist numbers, said the Regional Committee of Tourism spokesperson Valérie Pécresse. 

"After the tragedy of the Bataclan at the end of 2015, one million tourists were lost in 2016," said Valérie Pécresse. The strategy to recover tourist numbers has paid off, because the Tourism Committee confirms a sustainable recovery of tourism activity in Paris. Foreigners are indeed back. 

The market share of international tourists increased by 9.2% during the first six months of 2018, while local French travellers to Paris decreased by 0.3%. 

The Eiffel Tower tourist numbers for the first six months of 2018 have not yet been announced. However, the Louvre is in first place for museums and monuments visited. The Louvre visitors amounted to 4,760,000 for the first six months of 2018 compared with 4,068,000 in 2017, which is an increase of 17%. The Château de Versailles is second with 3,708,418 visitors, representing an increase of 0.3%. In third place is the city of Sciences and Industry in Paris (in the 19th arrondisement), with 1,174,317 visitors, although it is an decrease of 4.6% on 2017 numbers. 

Valérie Pécresse announced that the Tourism Committee will continue its efforts to attract more tourists to Paris, building on the themes of hospitality, transport and security. 

Will there be a record of 50 million visitors to Paris by the end of the year? Paris is now waiting for an historic first at the end of the year – surpassing the 50 million visitors mark, which has never been achieved before. 

"The figures are showing very good results for an exceptional year," says Eric Jeunemaitre, president of the Regional Tourism Committee, who sees further growth rates with the 2018 Golf Ryder Cup in September, the Rugby World Cup 2023 and the Olympics in Paris in 2024.




MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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