Focus on France Ian Sparks reports from Paris

EURO-REPORT

FOCUS ON... France

Ian Sparks reports from Paris on the threats to France’s tourist trade.

French tourism chiefs fear the latest shocking terrorist attack in Nice and the tumbling pound following the Brexit vote could cripple their industry for years.

Up to 90 holidaymakers and locals were killed and dozens more injured when a lorry ploughed through revellers watching a Bastille Day fireworks display in the southern French port on July 14. The tragedy happened just nine months after an Islamic State gunman massacred 137 people and injured 368 more in a spate of shootings and killing in Paris on November 13 last year.

The attacks combined with the falling pound, which has lost 20 per cent of its value against the euro since Britain’s decision to quit the EU last month, has now become a ‘double-edged sword’ to the struggling sector, the French travel industry umbrella group Les Entreprises du Voyage said.

The group’s president Jean-Pierre Mas added: “Britain will attract more French people but it is bad news for the French economy as fewer British tourists will come to France because it will be a more expensive destination.

“And when terrorists strike tourists at a hugely popular resort like Nice, not just the British but all other nationalities are likely to give France a very wide berth indeed. It could take years to recover from this.”

The day before the referendum, British searches for European holidays on holiday website Kayak surged 24 per cent, with France topping the list of flight destinations being queried, he said. But by the next day, France had dropped out of the top 10 to be replaced by the Netherlands, up 161 per cent, Czech Republic, up 146 per cent, and Sweden, up 140 per cent. Meanwhile, searches for holiday flight destinations to Britain soared, Mr Mas told French news agency AFP.

The threat from Airbnb

The bosses of Paris’s luxury hotels have also been demanding that the French government clamp down on the Airbnb home letting website which they claim is now stealing their wealthiest clients.

Three years ago there were just 7000 properties for rent on the property site across the whole of France. But today there are 50,000 flats and houses to let on the site in Paris alone, making the city the world’s top Airbnb destination. The site is also increasingly attracting wealthy renters, and currently offers around 400 Paris apartments at over 500 euros a night and, of those, about 40 charge over 1000 euros.

In comparison, Paris’s seven most luxurious hotels have less than 2000 rooms in total, with many rooms costing up to 2000 euros a night and suites costing in excess of 10,000 euros a night.

The Paris luxury sector is already worried about a surge in competition from newly opening hotels, a downturn in visits from wealthy Russians and Brazilians as their economies falter, and fears among US visitors of rising anti-semitism in France.

As a result of the competition, the Bristol Hotel suffered a 20 per cent drop in revenue in the first half of this year and an occupancy rate that fell to 61.2 per cent from 69.2. The renowned Four Seasons George V saw a 5 percentage point drop in occupancy to 66 per cent in the same period.

At the same time, maid and concierge services and other extras are all available on some of the most expensive Airbnb properties in Paris.

One flat available was once the home of film star Brigitte Bardot, and whose ‘140-metre square terrace offers you a breathtaking 360-degree view of the capital city’ for 1400 euros a night. The same floor space at the George V Hotel would cost around 8000 euros.

American actress Judith Freiha gets rave reviews for her one bedroom apartment on the Ile Saint Louis, an island in the River Seine near the heart of the city whose buildings date back to the 17th Century. At 900 euros a night her 54 square metre penthouse – with two terraces facing south to a secluded courtyard and north onto the main street – attracts Silicon Valley professionals, supermodels and wealthy courting couples.

Included in the price is a ‘meet and greet’ service from Freiha herself, who lets her flat around six weeks a year, for stays ranging mainly from two nights to a week.

Didier le Calvez, managing director of the French capital’s famed Bristol Hotel, said: “Airbnb is a menace that enjoys an unfair advantage. The Paris market is going to get very difficult.”

François Delahaye, managing director of the Plaza Athenee, said: “It’s a tax attack on our livelihoods. Although Airbnb landlords should declare any income for tax purposes, they do not face the other tax and social charges that a business such as a hotel has to pay.”

But Airbnb has insisted that it is not in competition with the French capital’s hotels. A spokeswoman for the website said: “We offer a totally different thing. These residences are chosen for the unique experience they offer, but which remain very different from what a luxury hotel can propose.”

Earlier this year, Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky also paid a visit to the capital to reassure Paris city officials that his company has only boosted tourism to the city.

He said after the meeting with Deputy Mayor Bruno Julliard: “I don’t think that for us to win, anybody has to lose. Airbnb chiefly serves as an alternative for those who struggle to find low cost accommodation and who would otherwise not be able to afford visiting Paris.

Mayor Julliard agreed, saying: “Airbnb has become an essential offering for accommodation in Paris, especially for younger tourists. Whatever anyone says, it has only boosted the number of visitors to Paris, and for us that is a good thing.” n