Paris attacks hurt China’s outbound tourism to France

Many Chinese travel agencies have cancelled tour plans in France due to security fears after the last week Paris attacks. [File photo]

Apart from the human cost of the terror attacks in Paris last week, there is also the economic impact. One of the areas expected to be directly affected is tourism.

According to the latest report by Securities Daily, major Chinese travel agencies, such as Caissa, U-tour, AoYou.com, have deployed emergency teams to ensure the security of their customers in Paris and to guide others to other countries, avoiding France.

The attacks will have a huge negative impact on tourism in whole of Europe and the situation may not get better soon, said tourism expert Yang Yanfeng. He thinks the Chinese New Year holiday will be effected as well. His prediction echoes many industry insiders.

Caissa, one of the biggest travel agencies in China, has cancelled all tours to France, and is assisting to reroute those who have registered for French trips. Customers who plan to fly to France before November 24 can apply for full refund if they wish to cancel their plan.

"Security is the top priority at the moment. If our customers want to complete their trip, we can transfer them to other countries, such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland," a Caissa executive said.

U-tour, another travel company, has taken similar measures. It is helping all its clients in France leave the country as soon as possible. Previous plans in the region have been cancelled.

"The Chinese outbound tourists who want to travel through Europe may change their destination. Popular choices include Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The increase in these areas will be obvious," Yang Yanfeng said.

Some travel companies though hold an optimistic point. They indicate that although Paris was badly affected by the attack, the impact on the whole of Europe will be limited.

"In the long run, people's demand to travel will still be there," said Xu Xiaolei, chief brand officer of AoYou.com.