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HEALTH

Paris braces for tourism hit as virus keeps Chinese at home

The new coronavirus outbreak is depriving Paris hotels, restaurants and retailers of big-spending Chinese visitors, the latest challenge for a French tourism industry facing headwinds from homegrown protests and Brexit, officials said Monday.

Paris braces for tourism hit as virus keeps Chinese at home
Around 950,000 Chinese visited Paris last year. Photo: AFP

“For now, airline forecasts suggest a 60 percent drop in Chinese visitors for February, March and April compared with the same period last year,” said Valerie Pecresse, president of the Ile-de-France region that encompasses the French capital.

“Yet Asian clients are absolutely crucial for us,” she said while presenting 2019 tourism figures for the region.

READ ALSO: Coronavirus: France steps up epidemic preparations after deaths in Italy

Around 950,000 Chinese visited Paris last year, making them the fifth-largest source of tourists by nationality, according to the CRT regional tourism committee.

But they were the second-biggest spenders overall, shelling out one billion euros ($1.1 billion) on hotel rooms, restaurants, museum visits and shopping sprees.

The GNC hotels association has already warned of a surge in cancellations by Chinese clients, especially by tour groups, whose cancellation rates reached 80 percent in January and nearly 100 percent for February.

Pecresse compared the current virus scare to the SRAS outbreak, “which had a very strong impact on Asian tourist travel, with 300,000 fewer visitors in 2003 from 2002.”

If an epidemic is declared in other Asian countries or in Europe, “the situation would become even more alarming,” she said.

Last year, Paris and its surrounding region chalked up 50 million visitors, up slightly from 2018, while overall spending was stable at nearly 22 billion euros, the CRT said.

“The uncertainties linked to Brexit, the protests in France, the weaker economic climate in Europe and global trade tensions dissuaded some groups, notably from Britain, China, and the Middle East,” it said.

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HEALTH

Are Danes cutting back on cigarettes and alcohol?

Danish stores sold a significantly lower quantity of alcohol and cigarettes over the counter last year, new data from Statistics Denmark show.

Are Danes cutting back on cigarettes and alcohol?

Some 3,852 cigarettes were sold year, which amounts to 804 per person over the age of 18. But that compares to a figures of 854 per person on 2022.

Cigarette sales in Denmark have been declining since 2018.

Sales of sprits, beer and wine fell by 7.8 percent, 5.3 percent and 0.9 percent respectively.

Danish business sold the equivalent of 44.4 million litres of pure alcohol, which works out at 11.9 units per week on average for each person over the age of 18.

Although that is a lower value than in 2022, it still exceeds the amount recommended by the Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen).

The Health Authority recommends that adults over 18 drink no more than 10 units per week and no more than four in a single day.

READ ALSO: Should Denmark raise the minimum age for buying alcohol?

“The numbers are still too high and it’s an average that could have a skewed distribution,” University of Southern Denmark professor, Janne Tholstrup, said in relation to the alcohol sales figures. Tholstrup has published research on Denmark’s alcohol culture.

That is in spite of a 30-year-trend of falling alcohol consumption, according to the professor.

“The majority of Danes stay under the recommended 10 unite per week. That means there is a large group with a persistently excessive consumption of alcohol,” she said.

The Statistics Denmark figures also show that sales of loose tobacco – such as the type used in roll-up cigarettes and pipes – also fell last year. Some 58 tonnes less were sold compared to 2022.

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