Attack on the Champs-Élysées: what now for tourism?

The attack that was carried out on the Champs-Élysées resulted in the death of a policeman, serious injuries inflicted on two other members of the force, and a minor injury for a German tourist. The events certainly will not help boost tourism.

EasyJet offered all its passengers with bookings for flights to Paris the opportunity to change their reservations.

While the full impact to tourism that this new terrorist attack in Paris – the third since February – is yet to be seen, France was already poorly placed on the list of the world’s safest tourist destinations, as published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

A few days before this latest incident, France featured in 67th place in the rankings. According to the same report, the safest destinations are Finland, the United Arab Emirates, Iceland, Oman and Hong Kong. It should be noted that, apart from the Scandinavian countries and Portugal, European destinations rank poorly in these standings: Germany sits in 51st place, the United Kingdom is 78th, and Italy 70th.

Canada, for its part, features in 23rd place, while the United States is 84th.

The attack in Paris

Although the attack on the Champs-Élysées was claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS), this claim is questionable, as the name and nationality (Belgian) mentioned in its message do not correspond to the suspect shot on the premises.

The identity of the suspect killed is Karim Cheurfi, a 37-year old resident of the Parisian suburbs; his nationality was French, and he had been the subject of an investigation by the Anti-Terrorism Section of the Directorate General of Internal Security since December 2016. He had previously been sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempting to kill two policemen, and was released after 12 years.

On the night of the incident, he parked his car – a grey Audi – behind a police van, near Marks & Spencer on the Champs-Élysées. Carrying an automatic weapon, he began firing at the police; he managed to kill one policeman and seriously injure two others before he was shot down himself. Xavier Jugelé, 37, is the sixth policeman killed in a terrorist attack since January 2015. The German tourist, who was passing by the scene, was struck by a bullet in the heel.