Strasbourg (AFP)
Selfies, mulled wine and first purchases: a year after the attack on Strasbourg's Christmas market, foreign tourists flock, between refusal to give in to fear, forgetfulness and conviction that terrorism can strike anywhere.
This weekend, a dense crowd was already crowding between the chalets of the 450th edition of the market, cathedral square, calling in all languages under the watchful eye of many police officers.
"When a terrorist attack happens somewhere, then it's the safest place to go, there are such security measures!" Remarks smiling Sandra Felber, ear muffs on the head and mulled wine between hands. Coming from Switzerland with a Swedish friend, the young woman had also traveled to Paris shortly after the November 2015 attacks.
"There is danger everywhere, we had the same problems in Berlin", where a truck had sunk into the crowd at the Christmas market in 2016, notes Bernhard, who came almost as a neighbor from Karlsruhe in Germany. "Usually, I do not like when we see too many police, but then I think it's normal," continues his wife Andrea, who says he feels safe on this market protected by a record device.
Christmas markets in Alsace drain about 4 million visitors, 2 million for the city of Strasbourg alone, about 30% foreign tourists.
Last year, despite the lethal equipment of Cherif Chekatt who had killed five and a dozen wounded in the Alsatian capital, tourists had not deserted these markets.
December 2018 was even "the best month of December observed in Alsace since the creation of the event + Christmas in Alsace +, it was an excellent vintage", notes Fatiha Kritter, in charge of the communication of "Destination Alsace" within the Regional Tourism Agency Grand-Est.
The economic impact of the Strasbourg market is around 250 million euros and the economic players were worried. But the chalets had kept their shutters lowered only during the two days of the run of Cherif Chekatt, finally killed by a police patrol.
- Yellow strikes and vests -
For Christmas 2019, the "+ trend +" of the hotel bookings is good, it is in the same waters as we have the other years.There is no delay on any customers whatsoever in connection with the drama that 'we lived,' insists Paul Meyer, deputy mayor in charge of tourism.
The attack had yet created a global shock wave. A Thai tourist, an Italian journalist, a Strasburger of Polish origin, a French-Afghan mechanic and a father from Strasbourg had lost their lives.
But while the attacks are perceived as phenomena "punctual" and that the whole of Europe is considered as a risk area, it would be rather repeated strikes and yellow vests that would frighten visitors from distant countries, including Asians, says one at the tourist office of Strasbourg.
"I went to Paris during the demonstrations of yellow vests and I think it's just as dangerous," confirms Napat Harinsuit. This Thai student at Fontainebleau was amazed on Friday evening by the city that was lit up all its lights, street after street, during the inauguration of Christkindlsmärik (market of the Child Jesus in Alsatian).
Busy to be photographed with a friend in front of the huge Christmas tree on the Place Kléber, Taiwanese Andrea Chang, 22, spends two days in France, including one in Strasbourg, before continuing her trip to Germany. She did not hear about last year's bombing but finds "Christmas decorations really beautiful".
For Caroline Paul, from Talents Travel, a specialist in Chinese tourism in France, a profound change limits the impact of terrorist attacks: the majority of Chinese now travel in individuals and no longer in groups.
In the event of an attack, "the market of group tourists is the first hit" because "the insurers of tour operators no longer follow" but this market is dwindling, she says. He is followed by a new generation of tourists, aged 25 to 45, who "continue to travel despite what is happening in the world".
© 2019 AFP