A mass Chinese wedding at Chenonceau castle in the Loire valley
© AFP/File Alain Jocard PARIS (AFP) - France is the most popular European holiday destination for Chinese tourists and some 700,000 flocked to the country last year, with Paris, the Cote d'Azur and the Loire chateau region the most popular destinations.
But many cancelled their trips after demonstrators disrupted the Olympic flame's passage through Paris in April, and travel agents in Beijing said they had now been advised to remove France from their destinations from this week.
"It is a catastrophic year for Chinese tourism in France," Philippe Yao, director of the China Comfort Travel agency in France, told AFP on Thursday.
He said his agency had already had several cancellations following the pro-Tibet demonstrations in Paris, and warned of "serious economic consequences" for the sector.
Among those who cancelled was a group of 35 Chinese couples travelling to celebrate their weddings in a French chateau.
"The advice to discourage Chinese tourists from visiting France hasn't been officially confirmed, but it is being applied now by the travel agencies," said Pierre Shi, director of the China Travel Service agency.
Anti-French actions broke out across China after the chaotic Paris leg of the torch relay ahead of August's Olympic Games in Beijing.
Hundreds of people protested outside branches of the French supermarket chain Carrefour, prompting French President Nicolas Sarkozy to send envoys to Beijing in an effort to defuse tensions.
French authorities are trying to confirm that "the Beijing tourism administration apparently issued a recommendation" to travel agents to stop selling trips to France, a diplomatic source told AFP on Thursday.
"Chinese tourists who have already received their visas and paid for their trips won't cancel. The flow of visitors will likely drop in the months to come," said Paul Roll, director of the Paris Tourism Office.
Maison de la France, the French tourism promotion agency, said its office in Beijing was "trying, along with the French ambassador in China, to clarify the situation."
©AFP