PARIS, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- After a dark year of 2016, the number of tourists to Paris Ile-de-France, the greater Paris region, in the first half of 2017 has climbed back to the highest in 10 years, the tourism committee of the region announced on Tuesday.
The first six months of this year registered 16.4 million hotel arrivals, increased by 10.2 percent, compared to the same period last year, according to a report published by the committee.
Arrivals from abroad and France have both increased, by 14.9 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively.
Among foreign tourists, the Japanese seemed to be the most enthusiastic about visiting the region, with a stunning rise of 40.5 percent, followed by the Chinese (29.8 percent) and the Americans (20.5 percent).
Among the eight administrative departments of Paris Ile-de-France, the City of Paris registered the highest increase of 14.9 percent, powered by the strong return of Chinese tourists, who represented 25 percent of international tourists to the city.
"The signs are clearly green for the tourism industry in Paris Ile-de-France," said Frederic Valletoux, president of the committee, attributing the rise to successful promotion campaigns and the quality improvement in the hospitality sector.
He added that the Paris tourism industry must continue to work hard to set high standards for "welcoming visitors from around the world to the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games."
The committee's figures show that in 2016 Paris Ile-de-France lost around 1.5 million tourists compared to the previous year, mainly due to security concerns following the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015, which killed 130 people.
