Today's Date:

For the last 10 nights or so there has been violence in several suburbs of Paris and latterly in certain major cities. The violence has occurred mainly at night in districts inhabited by the underprivileged. These persons are themselves the principal victims.

The government quickly took measures to restore order by sending in heavy police reinforcements. The goal is to return to a normal situation as quickly as possible.

To date, tourism has not been impacted by these events. The violence has not affected tourist sites and areas frequented by tourists. No tourist, French or foreign, has been hurt in the violence which is concentrated in districts on the periphery.

At this time we are not worried about the situation of tourism in France. An inquiry by the Tourism Office suggests that foreign tourists are not so far canceling their reservations in significant numbers because of the violence.

This is also due to the fact that the foreign authorities that have made statements about the problem have simply advised their nationals to avoid the sensitive areas.

Violence of this kind, which has moreover not been specific to France these past few years, ought not to lead to exaggerated comments. France, as the world’s premier tourist destination, is naturally subject to overexposure in the tourism sector./.