Hotel rates in Paris halved as visitor numbers slide

Hotels in Paris are offering discounts of up to 56 per cent in a bid to entice tourists back to the city.

The recent terror attacks in France have had a devastating impact on the country’s tourism industry. According to Matthias Fekl, the junior minister for tourism, hotels in Paris had an occupancy rate of just 32 per cent in the second half of July, compared to 77 per cent for the same period in 2015.

Paris is regularly named among the world’s most visited cities and, in a bid to salvage its reputation as a top tourist destination, hotels across the French capital have started slashing room rates – with many properties offering discounts of more than 50 per cent.

• Read more: The best five-star hotels in Paris

Using booking.com, Telegraph Travel searched for hotels in Paris between August 15 and 21, which is traditionally one of the busiest and most expensive times to visit Paris. 

However, of the first 100 properties that had availability, as many as 87 had reduced their rates.

The biggest discount at time of press was being offered by L’Hotel Pergolese Paris, which had cut the cost of our hypothetical six-night stay from £1,033 to £428 – a saving of 59 per cent.

Had we booked in at Hotel Madison by MH, Telegraph Travel could have saved as much as £975 on a six-night break.

Hotels in Nice reportedly suffered a 45 per cent fall in revenue during the two weeks after the July 14 attack on the seafront Promenade des Anglais, but discounts appear to be much smaller than in Paris.

• Read more: Is France safe for tourists?

Jean-Pierre Nadir of the travel website Easyvoyage said terrorism was not the only factor discouraging foreign visitors.

“Protests by taxi drivers and opponents of labour reforms, and strikes by rail workers and refuse collectors during the European football championships also tarnished the image of France,” he said.

France has been in a state of emergency since the terrorist attacks in Paris last November, which left 130 people dead.

Though such events are shocking, people visiting France are much more likely to fall victim of a traffic accident than an act of terrorism.

• Read more: 33 reasons to keep visiting Paris

This might provide some perspective for those considering a trip there.