Tourism to France rose in 2015 despite Paris attacks

PARIS (AP) — The overall number of tourists visiting France in 2015 rose marginally compared to the year before, despite the two deadly attacks in Paris in January and November.

Government figures released Friday shows that 84.5 million tourists visited continental France, an increase of 0.9 percent compared to 2014.

The Nov. 13 attacks in which 130 people died had a negative impact, with a drop of 15 percent in the numbers of foreign visitors traveling to Paris in the months of November and December. Before that massacre, two shooters had stormed the office of a satirical newspaper in January, killing a dozen people.

The largest increase was among tourists coming from Asia, whose numbers grew by 22.7 percent. The number of American tourists also increased considerably, by 15.2 percent compared to 2014.