REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - The France Tourism Board (Atout France) ensures the safety of those travelling to the country of fashion despite a series of attacks and acts of terrorism that struck the European nation. "We experienced a number of terror attacks but they can happen anywhere and the same applies to attacks directed at tourists, but as of now, France is a safe country," said Atout France ASEAN Regional Director, Morad Tayebi, on Monday.
Speaking during the Roadshow Douce France Press Meeting in Jakarta, Tayebi stated that the France government has deployed more policemen and surveillance cameras across the country to protect tourists from robbers and terrorist attacks. "The French government is doing its absolute best to protect visitors and we assure you that France is a very safe country to visit," Tayebi reiterated.
France's safety came into question for a while following a number of terror attacks including a shooting incident in a restaurant and bombings in a football stadium in Paris last year, both of which left hundreds of people dead.
Other that terror attacks, issues of security in France came to the fore once again with global public figures and Asian tourists becoming target of robberies. TV personality Kim Kardashian was robbed and held at gunpoint in her hotel room in Paris in October, while Indian actress Mallika Sherawat was attacked earlier this month.
A number of tourism agencies predicted that the number of visitors will go down by four to five percent due to extremist attacks, including ones in Paris and Nice, as well as the recurring robberies targeting Asian tourists. Such robberies earlier happened in August near the city's airport.
The French government is allocating US$43 million for security measures and tourism campaigns. Additional personnel and surveillance cameras have been placed around main tourist destinations, entrance accesses and around the capital city of Paris. Security signs are also being placed at some points across the country.
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