Friday's machete attack on soldiers at the Louvre was the first 'terrorist attack' at a tourist landmark in Paris. What does this mean for the falling tourist numbers in the French capital?
When a machete-weilding man was shot down by a soldier on Friday morning in a shopping centre at the Louvre museum, it marked another stage in the recent wave of terror attacks to hit Paris and France. Even though only the attacker was left seriously hurt, the incident marked the first time that a terrorist style attack was carried out at a tourist hot spot in the French capital, something the government, the City Hall and tourism Chiefs in Paris have long feared.
There was a warning in September when a car packed with Canisters was found next to Notre Dame Cathedral in the what proved to be a failed terror attack by Female jihadists. There have also been numerous other warnings and plots, including one to attack Disneyland Paris.
While the government and Paris city chiefs insist the foiled attack shows their security operation works well, the images of soldiers surrounding the attacker on a staircase leading to the Louvre museum, one of the most famous attractions in the world, will do little to reassure potential visitors. Visitors numbers have already been shrinking since the devastating attacks on the capital's bars and the Bataclan music venue in November 2015 showing that not only the Louvre, that has been hit.
An August report noted a 3.9 percent drop in traffic through Charles de Gaulle airport, an 11 percent drop in visitors to Disneyland Paris, and a 14.6 percent drop in the number of Paris hotel reservations.
Another report found that Paris tourism has lost $750 million since terror attacks. The president of the region's tourist bureau called it an 'industrial catastrophe' at the time. City chiefs were forced to appeal to tourists to follow the example of locals and not be scared.
The timing of Friday's attack is terrible for Paris authorities,who will be officially launching their 2024 Olympic bid on Friday night at the Eiffel tower, in front of the world's media. Their job of promising a safe Olympic Games in 2024 has been undermined on a day when a section of Central Paris was on lock down because of a machete weilding terrorist.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is determined to bring the games to Paris 100 years after they were last held in the Capital. She tried to play down the idea of Paris being particular target by noting that the French Capital was not alone when it came to terror threats.
