France leads world for tourism

France now leads Spain as the tourists' favourite -- with the U.S. dropping to third

MADRID, Spain -- France remained the world's top tourist destination in 2001, official figures have revealed.

But the United States lost its second place to Spain as the September 11 terror attacks contributed to an almost 13 percent slump in overseas visitors last year, the World Tourism Organization said.

France retained top slot, welcoming 76.5 million tourists, an increase of 1.2 percent, the Madrid-based United Nations agency said as it presented preliminary figures for 2001.

The U.S. received 44.5 million overseas visitors last year, a decline of 12.6 percent from 2000, being overtaken by Spain with 49.9 million, a rise of 3.4 percent.

Overall, world tourism figures showed little growth in 2001 and international arrivals fell by 1.3 percent. The year started off strongly but September 11 rewrote projections.

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"The September 11 attacks have caused world tourism's most serious crisis since the Gulf War, but the habit of vacationing and rest is so deeply rooted in our society that the tourism industry is always reactivating," WTO secretary-general Francesco Frangialli told a news conference.

The WTO blamed the turmoil on financial woes in major tourism-generating markets, as well as on the attacks on new York and Washington. It predicted recovery late this year.

"The tragic events of September 11 affected tourism in every region of the world, but even before that we could see a cooling in gro wth of outbound travel from countries like Germany, Japan and the United States during the first eight months of the year," Frangial li said.

World's Top 5 Tourism Destinations Rank Country est 2001 (million.) growth 01/00 1 France 76.5 1.2 2 Spain 49.5 3.4 3 U.S. 44.5 -12.6 4 Italy 39.1 -5.0 5 China 33.2 6.2 source: World Tourist Organization

International arrivals totalled 689 million in 2001, compared to 697 million in 2000.

From January to August of last year, arrivals worldwide grew 3 percent, a figure that could not be maintained after the attacks.

"September, October and November were a disaster for international travel," Frangialli said, although he reported a slight recovery in December.

In France tourism minister Jacques Brunhes told the Senate on Monday that over the year as a whole, visits rose slightly. But there was a downturn after the September 11 terror attacks.

Brunhes said France has been the world's top destination for more than a decade. However, he said tourism in France started to decline last year following the terror attacks in the United States.

"The year 2001 will remain marked by the terrible events of September 11 and their impacts on air transport and tourism," Brunhes said, adding that the industry is in a "slowdown phase" largely due to the attacks.

Immediately following the attacks, France recorded a 20 percent drop in visitors, a severe blow for an industry that in 2000 brought in 75 million tourists and $29 billion, tourism officials said.

The Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau estimated 70 percent of American tourists destined for the capital city cancelled hotel reservations for two weeks following the attack.

A spokesperson for the Eiffel Tower, the city's signature landmark, said ticket sales dropped 10 percent immediately after the attacks, while the Louvre, which houses Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," Michelangelo's "Slaves" and the jewels of Ramses II, noted a 25 percent drop in admission sales in the two weeks after September 11.