“What image do we send back to the world?” : tourism professionals fear the backlash from the October 17 demonstrations

“What image do we send back to the world? We are two months before Christmas, how are we going to bring tourists into the streets and into the damaged stores?”, alarms the president of the Federation of Associations of Parisian Traders and Craftsmen (Facap) Thierry Véron, fearing the worst for the end-of-year holidays. Concerns shared by Pascal Mousset, the president of the Groupement des hôtelleries et caterings (GHR) Île-de-France, describing what happened this Saturday, October 17 for the City of Paris as a “catastrophe,” while demonstrations “against the high cost of living” were disrupted by thugs all over France. A hard blow for hotel and catering professionals, at the very moment when people are “reserving their end-of-year vacations”.

“Many Europeans, like Italians in particular, come to spend New Year’s Eve in Paris. Such riots distract the attention of international customers,” deplores Pascal Mousset…