According to travel price comparison website icelolly.com, the destination has suffered a 65% decline in demand from travellers in the 12 months up to October 2016.
The website said data it had collated painted a “turbulent picture” for the destination over the last year – which has seen the city not only deal with rebuilding its tourism image following the attacks but contesting with further terror incidents across Europe hitting consumer confidence.
Icelolly.com said the attacks in Paris last November, which left 130 people dead, followed by bombings in Brussels in March and an attack on a Nice Bastille Day parade in July, had had a “profound impact” on the popularity of the French capital as a holiday destination.
According to icelolly.com, desire to travel to the city saw a 43% drop following the “immediate aftermath” of the Paris in November 2015 and interest to travel suffered a further 35% decline in December 2015.
Demand recovered into March, with seasonal events such as Valentine’s Day proving ever-popular for holidaymakers but the comparison website believed traveller confidence was “rocked” again following attacks in Brussels - with enquiry demand dropping by 52% between March and April.
Enquiries recovered into June but events in Nice saw demand “plummeting to its lowest point of the year”, icelolly.com added.
Furthermore, the website noted that whereas the period between August to October was the destination’s highest for demand in 2015, this year it became the city’s lowest.
Chief marketing officer for icelolly.com Ross Matthews said: “This has been a year of heartbreak for France as a whole, and Paris – its flagship holiday destination and famously one of the most visited cities in the world – has witnessed an unfortunate decline in demand as a result.
“However, we believe that the market will remain resilient. The trend for swift recovery in between each event indicates that the popularity of Paris will endure, and that holidaymakers are unlikely to be put off for very long.”
