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Tourism to France rose in 2015 despite the Paris terror attacks, with the country attracting more than 80 million tourists in 2015.
Government figures show that 84.5 million tourists visited continental France, an increase of 0.9 per cent compared to 2014.
The number of tourists visiting in November and December dropped by 15% following the attacks on November 13 which killed 130 people across the capital.
After a 1.8% increase over the first three quarters, there was a 3.1 per cent drop at national level in the last quarter, according to a report in the Mail Online.
Air France said the attacks caused around €120 million in lost revenue.
But French authorities maintain that the country remains the world’s leading tourist destination, with hotel stays rising 0.8% across France in 2015.
The largest increase was among tourists coming from Asia, whose numbers grew by 22.7% and the number of American tourists also increased by 15.2% to 3.6 million in 2015, ‘marking a return of these customers to France,’ officials said in a statement.
There was a 1.5% drop in European visitors but the number of British tourists crossing the Channel went up 3.3%.